The  Dawn  of  a  New 


Constructive 


UC-NRLF 


B  ^  5E3  b'^D 


r 


WPf^DPESblNGS    OF    ^HE 

im-^y^  LAND  GONFEBtNCc ., 
I    OF  THE  SOUTH       :i   ' 


New  Orleans,  La. 
AprU  11,  12  and  13,  1917 


GIFT  OF 
l^i;.70GD  IviEAD 


"The  Dawn  o/aNm^o 
Constructive  E f d:'^ 


Being  the  Full  and  Complete 
Report  of  the 

Cut-Over  Land  Con- 
ference of  the  South 

Held  Under  the  Auspices  of  the 
Southern  Pine  Association; 
Southern  Settlement  and  Devel- 
opment Organization;  New  Or- 
leans Association  of  Commerce; 

In  Co-operation  with  the 
United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture;  Department  of  the 
Interior;  Southern  State  Agri- 
cultural Colleges  and  Experi- 
ment Stations. 


19  17 


Looking  Ahead 

IN  presenting  this  book  to  the  piibhc  the  pubhshers  are  inspired 
by  a  desire  to  make  permanent  record  of  the  fund  of  informa- 
tion embraced  in  the  addresses  of  a  number  of  prominent 
men  who  gathered  in  New  Orleans  April  11,  12  and  13,  1917,  to 
participate  in  the  "Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South." 
This  meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  ques- 
tion of  best  present  and  future  beneficial  use  for  stock  raising, 
agriculture  and  reforestation  to  which  there  might  be  placed 
millions  of  acres  now  lying  idle  throughout  a  large  part  of  the 
South,  and  was  attended  by  many  land  owners,  agricultural 
experts  of  the  Federal  and  State  governments,  and  others. 

It  is  also  desired  that  the  volume  serve  as  the  record  of  the 
first  definite  steps  taken  in  a  work  which  is  expected  to  become 
the  greatest  constructive  development  movement  ever  under- 
taken in  the  United  States. 

Lumber  manufacturers,  who  own  much  of  the  cut-over  lands. 
are  looking  forward  to  the  day  when  their  mill  operations  will  be 
curtailed  by  the  diminution  of  the  virgin  pine  forests.  Mean- 
while, they  wish  to  take  steps  to  convert  into  practical  service 
for  the  benefit  of  themselves  and  the  public  the  vast  empire  of 
territory  now  largely  unproductive.  The  Soutliern  Cut-Over 
Land  Association  is  an  organization  which  has  grown  out  of 
the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference,  held  under  the  joint  auspices 
of  the  Southern  Pine  Association  and  Association  of  Commerce 
of  New  Orleans  and  the  Southern  Settlement  and  Development 
Organization,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  has  now  actively  entered 
on  the  task  of  consummating  this  great  undertaking'. 

SOUTHERN  CUT-OVER  LAND  ASSOCL\TION, 


•     GIFT  Oh 


Table  of  Contents 

Section  I — Proceedings  of  Wednesday,  April  11,  1917. 
Morning  Session — Mr.  M.  L.  Alexander  Presiding      Page 

"A  Foreword" ^ 

By    Mr.   J.   "Lewis   'Ihompson,   Chairman.    Cut-Over    Land 
Committee,   Southern   Pine  Association 

"Why  We  Have  Met" 8-10 

Address  hy  Mr.  M.  L.  .Alexander,  Commissioner,  Louisiana 
State    Conservation    Commission 

"Address  of  Welcome" 10-1 1 

By  Hon.   Martin  Behrman,  Mayor  of  New  Orleans 

"Importance  of  Agricultural  Development  to  the  Cities" 12-15 

.\ddress  by  Mr.   Ernest  Lee  Jahncke,   President  of  the 
New  Orleans  Association  of  Commerce 

"Practical  Reforestation" 15-23 

Paper  prepared  hy  Mr.  Henry  S.  Graves,  Chief   Forester, 

United  States  Forest  Service,  and  read  by  Mr.  E. 

S.  Bryant  of  the  United  States  h'orest 

Service,  representing  Mr.  Graves 

"Practical  Utilization  of  Cut-Over  Lands" 24-28 

Address   hy   Mr.   Stanley   F.   Morse,  Agricultural    Expert, 
formerly  of  the  LTniversity  of  .Arizona 

Afternoon  Session — Mr.  M.  L.  Alexander  Presiding 

"Agriculture  From  A  National  Standpoint" 29-36 

Address  by  'Honorable  Carl  Vrooman,  Assistant  Secretary 

of  Agriculture,  United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture 

"The  Cut-Over  Land  Owner's  Responsibility — His 

Opportunity" 36-46 

Address  by  Hon.  H.  Clay  Tallman,  Commissioner,  General 

Land  Office.  United  States  Department  of 

the   Interior 

"Lumbermen's  Activities,  Past,  Present  and  Future" 46-50 

.Address  by  Mr.  J.  Lewis  Thompson 

"The  Railroad's  Part  in  the  South's  Development" 50-54 

Address  by  'Mr.   J.   C.   Clair,   Industrial   Commissioner   of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 

Section  II — Proceedings  of  Thursday,  April  12,  1917. 
Morning  Session — Mr.  Clement  S.  Ucker  Presiding 

"The  Practical  Aspects  of  the  Problem" 55-58 

.Address  hy  Mr.  Clement  S.  Ucker.  Vice-President  Southern 
Settlement   and   Development  Organization 

"Natural  Resources  of  the  South — Arkansas  as  a  Developing 

Factor" 58-67 

Address  hy  Hon.  Charles  H.  Brough,  Governor  of 
Arkansas 

897446 


Table  of  Contents — Continued  Page 

"Soils  of  the  Coastal  Plain  Area" 68-77 

Address   by    Mr.    C.    F.    Marbut,    Soil    Expert,    Bureau   of 
Soils,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

'"Some  Factors  to  be  Considered  in  the  Drainage  of  the  Cut- 
Over  Lands  of  the  South" , 78-83 

Address  by  Mr.  S.   H.   McCrary,  Assistant  Chief,   Office 

of  Public  Roads  and  Rural  Engineering,  United 

States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Afternoon  Session — Mr.  Clement  S.  Ucker  Presiding 

"Some  Problems  of  Cut-Over  Land  Development" 84-86 

Address  by  Mr.  Harry  D.  Wilson,   Commissioner  of 
Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Louisiana 

"Forage  Problem  of  the  Coastal  Plain  Area" 86-93 

Address  by  Dr.   C.  V.  Piper,  Chief  Agrostologist,  Bureau 

of  Plant  Industry,  United  States  -Department 

of   Agriculture 

"Experiences  in  Cattle  Raising  on  Cut-Over  Lands" 93-96 

Address  by  Mr.  F.  B.  Enochs,  of  F"ernwood,  Miss. 

"Soil  Improvement  Crops" 97-103 

Address  by  Mr.  S.  M.  Tracy,  Agronomist.  Office  of  Forest 

Crop  Investigation,  United  States  Department 

of  Agriculture 

"Need  of  Experiment  Station  Work  on  Cut-Over  Lands".  .103-106 

Address  by   Mr.   W.  R.   Dodson,   Director  of   the   State 

College  and  Experiment  Station  of  the  State 

of  Louisiana 

"Mississippi's  Part  in  Cut-Over  Land  Development" 106-107 

Address   by   Dr.   E.   R.   Lloyd,   Director  of   Experiment 
Stations  of  the  State  of   Mississippi 

"What  Georgia  is  Doing  to  Encourage  the  Utilizing  of  Cut- 
Over  Lands" 108-1 1 1 

Address  by  Mr.  John  R.  Fain,  Agronomist  of  the  College 
of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Georgia 

"Beef  Cattle  and  Hogs" 112-125 

Address  by  Mr.  George  M.  Rommel,  Chief,  Animal  Hus- 
bandry Division  United   States  Department 
of  Agriculture 

"A  Survey  of  the  Live  Stock  Situation" 125  141 

Address  prepared  by  Dr.  Andrew  M.  Soule,  President  of 
the  College  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Georgia 

"The  Animal  Industry  of  the  South — Past,   Present  and 

Future" 142-150 

Address  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Dalrymple,  Professor  of  Veterinary 

Science,  Louisiana  Agricultural  College 

"The  Railroads'  Interest  in  Cut-Over  Land  Development".  .151-155 

Address  by  Mr.  D.  C.  Welty,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway 

"What  Florida  is  Doing  in  Land  Development" 155-157 

Address  by  iMr.  James  ¥.  Alurphy,  President  of  the  Florida 
Land  Development  and  Colonization  Association 


Table  of  Contents — Concluded 

Section  III — Proceedings  of  Friday,  April  13,  1917. 

Morning  Session — Mr.  Clement  S.  Ucker  Presiding      Page 

■■Demonstration  Work  on  Cut-Over  Lands" 157-168 

Address  by  Mr.  G.   E.   Nesom,  Superintendent  of   Live 

Stock  Extension  Work  in  Louisiana  for  the  United 

States  Department  of  Ajj;ricuiture 

■■Row  Louisiana  is  Solving  the  Reforestation  Problem".  . .  .169-172 

Address  by  Mr.  M.  L.  Alexander,  Commissioner,  Louisiana 

State  Conservation  Commission 

"Some  Problems  of  Colonizing  Cut-Over  Lands" 172-173 

Address  by  Mr.  H.  Q.  Weare,  of  Mobile,  Ala. 

■'The  Dairy  Industry  of  the  South" 174-178 

Address  by  Mr.  C.  VV.  Radway,  Dairy  Specialist,   Bureau  of 

Animal  Industry,   United   States   Department 

of  Agriculture 

"Some  Suggestions  for  Dairying  on  Cut-Over  Lands" 179-181 

Address  by  Mr.  N.  P.  Hull,  President  of  National 
Dairy  L^nion 

■■Tick  Eradication" 182-18/ 

Address  by  Dr.  E.  L  Smith,  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal 

Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Afternoon  Session — Mr.  Clement  S.  Ucker  Presiding 

"Stumps  and  Their  Practical  Removal" 188-195 

Address  by  Mr.  Carl   D.  Livingston,  University   of 
Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wisconsin 

"The  Sheep  Industry  of  the  South" 196-201 

Address  by  Mr.  F.  R.  Marshall,  Senior  Animal    llusliand- 

man,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States 

Department  of  Agriculture 

'■Possibilities  of   Cut-Over  Lands" 201-207 

Address  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Evans,  Assistant  Chief.  States  Relation 
Service,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

"The  Cut-Over  Acre— What  is  It  Worth?" 207-209 

Address  bj'^  Mr.  William  R.  Lighten,  Fayetteville,  .\rk. 

"Shortage  of  Raw  Materials — The  Demand  Increasing".  .210-216 

Address  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Bigelow,  President,  Philadelphia 
Wool  and  Textile  Association 

"Forestry  and  Cattle  Raising  on  the  Cut-Over  Pine  Lands 

of  the  Southern  States" 217-225 

Address  by  Major  J.  G.  Lee,  Department  of  Forestry  and 
Horticulture,  Louisiana  State  University 

"The  Necessity  for  Organized  Effort" 226-229 

Address  by  General  L.  C.  Boyle,  of  Kansas  City 

"Cut-Over  Lands  and  Their  Value" 230-231 

.Address  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Prescott,  Agricultural  .Agent, 
Southern  Railway  System  Development  Service 

Resolutions 22>2-2iS 

Senator  Ransdell   Sends  Greetings 236 

Registration  List 237-244 


A  Foreword 

By  J.  Lewis  Thompson 

Chairman,  Cut-Over  Land  Committee 
Southern  Pine  Association 

Gentlemen : — We  are  gathered  together  here  this  morning  in 

a  conference — our  program  states  just  what  we  are  here  for;  and 

on  account  of  my  having,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  accepted  the 

chairmanship  of  this  committee  I  happen  to  be  before  you  just  at    Government 

this  time.    We  had  expected  to  have  a  large  gathering,  and  to  all  of   ^^^P'U  iJ^i^r- 
,  1       ^  ..        1  I     I  1  ested  in  Cut- 

yon  is  due  some  explanation  as  to  why  we  had  so  many  changes  j      d 

in  our  date  of  meeting.  The  Department  at  Washington  and  the  Development 
officials  are  very  much  interested  in  this  meeting,  and  we  were 
shifting  about  dates  trying  to  arrive  at  a  date  at  which  they  could 
attend,  but,  as  we  all  know,  the  Germans  interfered  with  their  plans ; 
but  we  have  finally  gotten  together  here  at  this  time.  We  are  dis- 
appointed in  not  having  Senator  Ransdell  here  to  preside  for  us 
this  morning,  but  Mr.  Alexander  has  kindly  consented  to  preside, 
and  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  Mr.  Alexander  to  you. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


--^^>^-  -Why  We  Have  Met 

By  M.  L.  Alexander 

Commissioner,  Louisiana  Department  of 
Conservation 

Gentlemen : — I  consider  it  an  honor  and  a  privilege  to  be  called 
upon  to  preside  at  a  gathering  so  important  as  this.  I  regret  sin- 
cerely, however,  to  say  that  Mr.  Ransdell,  who  was  originally  chosen 
to  preside  at  this  meeting,  was  unable  to  come  owing  to  duties 
which  he  is  called  upon  to  perform  at  this  time  at  Washington  and 
which  are  possibly  much  more  important  than  anything  which  could 
be  taken  up  on  the  outside. 

Senator  Ransdell  has  always  expressed  an  active  interest,  not 
only  in  the  things  which  concern  the  development  of  his  own  state, 
but  which  concern  the  development  of  the  Southland  or  the  devel- 
opment of  the  whole  United  States,  and  I  regret  exceedingly  that 
he  was  not  here  to  address  you  in  person. 

This  is  an  important  meeting,  gentlemen ;  one  that  is  of  great 
significance — a  meeting  which  we  hope  will  mean  something  to  you 
and  the  sections  which  you  represent.  This  meeting  is  not  called 
for  the  purpose  of  fostering  any  real  estate  interest  or  any  specified 
real  estate  development,  or  for  the  aiding  of  any  men  or  set  of 
men,  but  it  has  been  called  by  sound-thinking  men  for  the  purpose 
Vast  Problem  of  bringing  attention  to  these  large  areas  of  cut-over  lands  which 
Must  Be  exist  in  the  lumber  belts  of  the  Southern  States,  areas  of  cut-over 

lands  that  now  approximate  something  like  40  to  50  million  acres 
in  that  territory.  Therefore,  we  hope  that  in  your  deliberations 
here,  in  the  papers  that  will  be  read  before  you,  in  the  thoughts 
that  will  be  expressed,  w^ill  have  your  due,  careful  and  earnest 
consideration,  because  there  is  a  problem  to  be  solved,  a  problem 
the  solving  of  which  will  mean  so  much  to  the  development  of  this 
section  of  the  country. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  am  called  upon  to  act  in  a  sort  of  dual 
capacity  today — not  only  called  upon  to  represent  Mr.  Ransdell  as 
chairman  of  your  meeting,  but  called  upon  to  express  the  regret 
of  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  that  he  was  not  able  to 
be  present,  being  confined  to  a  sick  bed  at  the  capital  at  Baton 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xcin  Constructive  Eva 


Rouge,  and  therefore  I  am  going  to  claim  the  privilege  of  the  chair- 
man and,  without  further  ceremony,  will  introduce  myself  to  you 
as  the  representative  of  the  Honorable  Rufifin  G.  Pleasant,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  Louisiana.     (Applause.) 

Gentlemen,  as  the  representative  of  the  Governor  of  Louisiana 
I  wish  to  say  to  you  that  the  Governor  regrets  exceedingly  that  he 
was  not  able,  owing  to  sickness,  to  be  present  here  today  and  to 
welcome  this  distinguished  body  of  men  from  these  various  sec- 
tions who  have  come  together  here  to  consider  problems  that  mean 
so  much  to  the  State  of  Louisiana  as  well  as  to  the  other  sections. 
The  Governor  appreciates  fully  the  significance  of  this  meeting.  He 
recognizes  that  any  plan  or  set  of  plans  which  can  be  brought  about 
to  further  the  development  of  these  areas  of  cut-over  lands  that  Governor 
exist  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  approximating  something  like  five  Pleasant, 
or  five  and  a  half  million  acres  at  the  present  time,  will  be  of  great    Louisiana, 


good  to  this  state  and  the  people  and  that  prosperity  will  follow 
in  the  wake  of  this  development;  and  I  w^ant  to  say  to  you  that  it 
is  a  question  of  great  importance.  There  is  no  more  important 
question  which  can  be  taken  up  at  this  particular  time,  for  now. 
at  the  time  of  the  nation's  crisis ;  now,  at  the  time  when  we  are 
entering  into  the  Avorld  war;  now,  at  the  time  when  we  are  going 
to  require  the  efforts  of  the  sound-thinking  men  to  bring  about  a 
further  development  along  agricultural  lines  and  along  the  line  of 
raising  foodstuffs  generally,  and  also  live  stock,  this  is  a  live  ques- 
tion and  a  question  that  concerns  us  all  and  we  should  give  it  serious 
deliberation. 

Louisiana  has  something  like  twenty-nine  million  acres  of  land 
and  today  there  is  less  than  five  million  acres  of  that  land  under 
cultivation.  Louisiana  has  the  greatest  body  of  alluvial  lands  that 
exist  in  the  world  today,  and  still  there  are  large  tracts  of  this  land 
which  still  remain  uncultivated.  Louisiana  has  vast  prairies  which 
future  development  would  make  ideal  stock  farms.     Louisiana  has 


Sends 
Greetings 


Louisiana's 
:),000,000 
Acres   of   Un- 


had  something  like  fourteen  million  acres  of  timber  land,  something    developed 
like  nine  or  ten  million  acres  of  pine  land,  and  today  there  exists    (-id-Over 
in  the  state  over  five  million  acres  of  cut-over  pine  land,  and  the 
problem  is,  what  are  we  going  to  do  with  it  and  what  are  we  going 
to  make  out  of  it?    About  80  per  cent  of  it.  as  we  see  it,  would  be 
susceptible  for  agricultural  development. 

Louisiana  has  made  a  great  deal  of  progress  as  to  demonstrat- 
ing what  can  be  done  with  this  cut-over  land.     Situated  in  sonu- 


10 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Big  Yields 
From  Cut- 
Over  Lands 


of  the  parishes  of  the  state,  the  cut-over  lands  have  become  the 
most  valuable  lands  we  have  in  the  state,  because,  after  all,  the 
value  of  land  is  based  on  what  it  produces  in  actual  revenue.  We 
have  cut-over  lands  in  Louisiana  that,  at  a  conservative  estimate, 
are  yielding  in  actual  revenue  per  acre,  per  year,  one  thousand  dol- 
lars. We  have  exceptional  cases  where  this  has  gone  as  high  as 
two  thousand  dollars,  but  the  agriculturists  tell  us,  by  their  experi- 
ments and  by  the  experiments  of  the  Louisiana  Department  of 
Agriculture,  that  these  cut-over  lands  have  an  actual  cash  value  for 
the  production  of  hogs  of  at  least  $50  an  acre.  Therefore,  it  seems 
to  me  we  would  not  be  wasting  time  if  we  encourage  the  exploita- 
tion and  development  of  these  lands ;  and  I  sincerely  trust  that  the 
deliberations  of  this  body  of  earnest,  sound-thinking  men,  who 
have  come  here  to  consider  this  problem,  will  evolve  some  scheme 
and  idea  where  those  lands  can  be  brought  into  early  use;  and 
now,  gentlemen,  again,  on  behalf  of  the  Governor  of  the  state,  I  bid 
vou  a  most  hearty  welcome  to  Louisiana.    I  thank  you.    (Applause.) 


The  Soiith's 
Duty  to  the 
Xation 


Address  of  Welcome 

By  Hon.  Martin  Behrman 

Mayor  of  New  Orleans 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Conference: — I 
do  appreciate  the  importance  of  this  conference.  For  that  reason 
I  have  canceled  whatever  engagements  I  may  have  had  this  morn- 
ing in  order  to  be  with  you  and  personally  extend  to  you  a  word 
of  welcome  for  the  people  of  the  City  of  New  Orleans. 

At  this  time,  in  this  crisis,  it  is  proper  and  meet  that  men  like 
yourselves  should  come  together  for  the  purposes  of  doing  some- 
thing to  encourage  the  use  of  these  wonderful  lands  of  ours.  You 
know  and  I  know  what  the  cut-over  lands  of  the  South  in  certain 
sections  are  producing,  but  the  South  will  be  called  upon  to  do 
her  share  now  and  to  do  it  promptly.  We  will  be  called  upon  to 
raise  the  products  to  feed  the  Allies  as  well  as  ourselves.  We  will 
be  called  upon  to  furnish  the  rest  of  the  country — who  are  not 
blessed  as  we  are,  with  the  splendid  soil  we  have  and  the  splendid 
opportunities  we  have  here  in  the  South — we  will  be  compelled  to 
furnish  them  with  the  food  products  they  may  need.  So  I  say 
this  is  an  important  conference,  one  that  I  hope  will  bring  about 


The  Dawn  of  a  \ew  Const riicliue  Era  11 

the  best  results.  We  have  a  wonderful  soil,  and  we  have  a  won- 
derful people,  but  we  have  been  going  along  content  just  to  let  well 
enough  alone.  Everything  came  easy  for  us ;  nature  has  been  very 
kind  to  us ;  anything  we  put  in  the  ground  would  grow  ;  and  nothing 
would  better  illustrate  the  feeling  of  being  satisfied  to  let  well 
enough  alone  than  this:  Some  years  ago,  when  a  company  of 
army  engineers  were  locating  the  route  of  the  Intercoastal  Canal  in 
our  state — part  of  it  was  completed,  but  part  of  it  had  to  be  done 
with  the  aid  of  teams — they  came  to  a  beautiful  section  of  our 
state  and  saw  a  big  family  sitting  under  a  great  big  oak  tree ;  that    '^^"•">"'   Get 

family  had  a  splendid  tract  of  land,  but  there  was  only  a  small    "'•"'^^  /^ro//i 

....  ,••  ,  -1  .  1     Old  Ideas 

portion   of   It  under  cultivation ;   and   someone  in   the   party    said, 

"Why  don't  you  cultivate  the  rest  of  this  land?"  He  replied, 
"What's  the  use?  W^e  have  enough."  That  is  the  spirit  we  want 
to  get  away  from,  and  now  it  is  not  only  the  spirit  of  doing  things 
different  from  the  way  we  used  to  do  them,  but  the  necessity  that 
we  must  do  it,  we  must  use  those  lands,  and  we  must  put  them 
to  the  uses  for  which  they  were  intended.  It  is  not  only  a  ques- 
tion of  whether  we  ought  to  do  it  or  not ;  it  is  a  duty  and  it  is 
compulsory. 

Speaking  of  the  different  arts,  I  read  a  few  days  ago  that 
'way  back  in  1859,  in  a  speech  to  the  Agricultural  Society  of  Wis- 
consin. Abraham  Lincoln  said :  "The  most  valuable  of  all  arts  will 
be  the  art  of  deriving  a  comfortable  subsistence  from  the  smallest 
area  of  soil." 

We  have  the  soil  and  the  acreage  and  all  the  other  things. 
God  has  blessed  us  with  a  splendid  climate,  and  what  we  may  lack 
in  people  we  can  get  from  immigration.  I  was  one  of  those  who 
never  believed  it  was  necessary  to  bring  them  all  down  into  this 
section  of  the  country.  You  have  the  people  in  this  country ;  they 
only  have  to  be  educated  up  to  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  those  J n^^ity nation 
lands,  and  learn  the  possibilities  of  them  and  see  the  uses  they  can 
be  put  to ;  and  then  the  farmers  from  the  great  West  and  North- 
west can  come  down  here  and  develop  these  lands  with  the  energj- 
they  have  shown  in  their  own  sections  of  the  country ;  and  then  I 
believe  ever}'  section  and  all  the  lands  of  the  state  will  be  put  to  use. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  hope  the  deliberations  of  your  conference 
will  be  entirely  successful,  and  on  behalf  of  the  people  I  want  to 
say  it  is  their  earnest  desire  that  they  will  be.  and  they  bid  me  say 
to  you  that  you  are  most  heartily  welcome  here.  I  thank  you. 
(Applause.) 


12  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

Importance  of  Agricultural 
Development  to  the  Cities 

By  Ernest  Lee  Jahncke 

President  of  the  New  Orleans  Association 
of  Commerce 

Gentlemen : — With  the  same  earnestness  evinced  by  our  Hon- 
orable Mayor,  I,  also,  as  President  of  the  New  Orleans  Associa- 
tion of  Commerce,  want  to  welcome  you  to  this  conference  and  to 
express  pleasure  at  having  you  come  to  this  city  to  hear  the  dis- 
cussions upon,  and  endeavor  to  solve  problems  so  vital  to  the 
nation's  welfare  at  this  time. 

As  the  head  of  a  civic  body  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
promoting  the  industrial  and  commercial  welfare  of  New  Orleans, 
I  realize  the  importance  which  the  work  you  gentlemen  are  under- 
taking has  upon  the  development  of  this  and  other  cities  of  the 
South.  The  head  of  the  greatest  statistical  organization  in  the 
country  recently  said  that  in  1950  the  largest  city  in  the  United 
States  would  be  situated  in  the  South  and  the  chief  reason  upon 
Nation  s  which  he  based  this  prophecy  was  the  potential  resources  in  this 

"'  territory,  which  you  are  now  endeavoring  to  uncover.  To  release 
Mau  Be  in  ^^^^  dormant  wealth  for  the  public  good  will  require  a  great  deal 
South  of  work,  not  only  on  the  part  of  the  agricultural  interests,  but  in 

co-operation  with  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Boards  ot  Trade, 
with  the  transportation  lines,  the  bankers,  the  merchants,  the  trade 
organizations  and  the  colleges  and  experiment  stations.  The  growth 
and  prosperity  of  all  these  factors  are  interdependent;  the  losses, 
sustained  by  one  are  shared  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  others,  and 
the  touch  of  Fortune  is  felt  by  all  alike. 

If  the  farmers  in  a  locality  have  had  good  crops  and  are  able, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  financial  and  commercial  agencies,  to 
Co-operation     market  same  profitably  the  effect  is   felt  all  through  the  district. 
Necessary    to   If,  through  lack  of  practical  aid  being  given  to  the  rural  communi- 
Success  ties,  or  in  the  absence  of  such  communities  there  is  no  effort  to 

develop  them,  the  cities  and  towns  in  those  sections  cease  to  pro- 
gress, and  if  the  proper  steps  are  not  taken,  the  retrograde  move- 
ment begins. 


The  Dawn  of  a  Sew  Conslruciive  Era 


13 


Nation's   Fate 
Largely  in 


The  days  when  people  have  sufficient  unto  themselves  are 
beginning  to  fade  away,  so  much  so  that  the  whole  world  is  look- 
ing to  more  centralized  effort.  Whole  nations  are  no  longer  able 
to  be  entirely  independent  of  others,  and  even  now  each  continent 
needs  the  assistance  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

We  have  been  made  to  recognize  in  the  past  two  years  more 
than  ever  before  the  importance  of  agriculture  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  nation.  There  is  hardly  a  more  important  subject  today  than 
the  national  food  supply,  not  only  as  a  factor  in  our  own  national 
life,  but  in  that  of  other  nations.  Without  the  farmer  how  long 
could  the  soldiers  maintain  themselves  in  the  fields?  There  is  one 
little  incident  in  history  that  impresses  me  in  this  connection,  and  Hands  of 
that  is  the  story  oft  told  about  Cincinnatus,  the  patriotic  Roman,  Farmer 
who  left  his  plow  standing  and  hastened  at  top  speed  to  help  the 
empire  when  news  of  war  reached  him.  If  Cincinnatus  were  a 
farmer  in  these  times  the  thing  which  he  would  be  most  likely  to 
do  would  not  be  to  leave  his  plow,  but  he  would  be  encouraged  by 
his  government  to  push  the  plow  more  vigorously  and  where  pos- 
sible add  another  plow. 

The  ruralist  of  today  is  not  the  farmer  of  the  days  gone  by; 
he  does  not  make  his  once  a  week  trip  to  the  nearest  market  to 
dispose  of  his  product  and  then  bury  himself  in  his  farm  for  the 
next  six  days.  With  the  aid  of  the  automobile,  good  roads  and  Cj7[/  and 
interurban  lines,  he  is  now  very  much  a  city  folk;  he  visits  the  ^^"^"'  '^  ,  " 
city  places  of  amusement,  makes  his  purchases  in  person  at  the 
city  stores  and  invests  his  money  in  municipal  enterprises.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  distinction  between  urban  and  rural  welfare  is 
being  eliminated  and  that  each  must  work  for  the  benefit  of  the 
other. 

When  commercial  bodies  commence  to  take  notice  of  these 
things  and  desire  to  do  what  is  necessary  for  proper  development 
along  these  lines,  they  should  make  a  careful  study  of  the  needs 
and  possibilities  in  their  localities,  and  if  all  such  organizations  in 
the  South  give  attention  to  the  problems  presented  and  threshed 
out  at  this  conference;  I  feel  certain  that  great  steps  will  be  taken 
in  that  direction. 

In  this  connection,  it  might  be  advisable  to  give  some  statistics 
regarding  the  possibilities  of  the  South,  the  surface  of  which  has 
thus  only  been  scratched.  In  1900,  in  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Georgia, 
Louisiana  and  Mississippi  there  were  over  one  hundred  arid  sixty 


dependent 


14  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

million  acres  of  land  capable  of  being  cultivated,  and  of  which  but 
24  per  cent  had  been  improved.  Between  1900  and  1910  nearly 
six  million  acres  more  of  improved  farm  lands  were  added,  making 
27  per  cent  at  the  latter  date.  Comparing  progress  in  these  states 
with  that  in  other  states,  and  making  due  allowance  for  increased 
developments,  it  is  probable  that  by  1930  at  least  eighteen  million 
Only  27  Per-  acres  more  of  improved  lands  will  be  added  to  the  farms  in  these 
cent  of  five  states,  or  38  per  cent.    This  is  not  at  all  a  rash  prediction  when 

South  s  Lands   ^^.g  j^qj-^  ^^lat  34  per  cent  of  the  area  of  Wisconsin  was  improved 
.  farms  in  1910,  and  49  per  cent  in  New  York,  notwithstanding  the 

large  mountainous  area  of  the  latter  state.  In  the  prairie  states, 
Illinois  has  78  per  cent  of  improved  area,  and  Iowa  83  per  cent, 
which  marks  the  maximum  of  present  development.  This  will  give 
an  idea  of  what  can  be  done  in  the  South.  Wisconsin,  which  I 
said  has  34  per  cent  of  improved  farms  in  1910,  is  the  leading  dairy 
state  of  the  Union,  yet  experts  say  that  the  possibilities  for  profit- 
able dairying  in  the  South  are  even  greater  than  those  in  the  North. 
To  realize  what  the  addition  of  eighteen  million  acres  of  im- 
proved farm  lands  would  mean  to  industrial  activity  in  the  South 
we  have  but  to  refer  to  the  building  statistics.  According  to  census 
reports,  the  average  investment  per  acre  for  buildings  in  the  five 
beforementioned  states  was  $8.48.  To  preserve  this  average  per 
acre  for  buildings,  which,  by  the  way,  is  almost,  $5.00  less  than 
the  average  in  Northern  states,  farm  buildings  to  the  amount  of 
150  million  dollars  would  be  erected,  and,  using  the  same  census 
reports,  it  is  estimated  that  forty  million  dollars'  worth  of  agricul- 
tural implements  and  machinery  would  be  used.  These  figures  are 
based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  same  methods  of  farming  would 
be  maintained  in  the  South,  but  if  they  were  brought  to  the  higher 
planes  of  the  Northern  farms  these  amounts  would  be  greatly  in- 
creased. 

The  South's  greatest  resource  today  is  her  yellow  pine  forests. 
In  the  seven  leading  states  producing  this  species  of  lumber,  over 
one-quarter  of  a  million  people  are  employed  in  lumber  industries, 
which  means  that  over  one  million  people  are  dependent  upon  this 
source  for  a  livelihood.  Hundreds  of  towns  are  built  up  and  main- 
tained mainly  because  of  the  sawmill  operations  in  those  vicinities. 
Millions  of  acres  of  cut-over  lands  are  left  idle  after  the  woodman 
has  passed.  These  lands  have  been  productive  of  wealth  which  has 
given  work  to  so  many  people  and  if  they  are  to  be  kept  as  a  source 
of  revenue,  we  must  look  to  the  co-operation  of  all  agencies,  gov- 
ernmental and  private,  to  do  so. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  15 

New  Orleans  is  situated  at  the  very  door  of  this  great  industry 
and  its  effect  upon  the  city's  growth  has  been  very  marked. 

For  years  we  have  been  l)enefited  by  the  millions  invested  in 
this  work  and  the  returns  from  the  product.  How  are  we  going 
to  preserve  this  activity  so  vital  to  the  welfare  of  this  city  and  to 
other  Southern  cities?  The  South  has  not  yet  reached  that  stage 
of  a  manufacturing  locality  where  capital  and  labor  ending  its  use- 
fulness in  one  industry  can  be  converted  into  another.  We  must 
endeavor  to  take  care  of  this  by  utilizing  the  lands  that  have  been 
cut  over ;  making  it  possible  to  create  productive  farms  throughout 
the  now  barren  land.  The  problems  solved  at  this  conference  and 
the  work  of  any  organization  effected  to  carry  them  out  are  the 
greatest  steps  taken  to  this  end  and  should  receive  the  support  of 
all  commercial  organizations. 


Practical  Reforestation 

Paper  prepared  by  Henry  S.  Graves,  Chief  Forester, 

U.  S.  Forest  Service,  and  read  by  E.  S. 

Bryant  of  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service, 

representing  Mr.  Graves 

The  undertaking:  which  vou  have  called  this  meeting-  to  con-   I J^d^^foking 
.  ,      .  ,  ,  ".  ,  ,.     .  .  ,      Worthy  of 

sider  IS  one  of  very  far  reachmg  public  importance;  it  command."^  Active  Public 

the  interest  of  the  whole  public  and  should  have  its  active  sup-  Support 
port.  The  movement  you  have  initiated  is  peculiarly  significant 
of  a  new  spirit  in  the  country  and  it  points  in  the  direction  of  a 
virtual  reconstitution  of  the  industrial  organization  of  the  country. 
Our  history'  has  been  largely  that  of  opening  up  and  ex- 
ploiting virgin  resources.  In  a  considerable  part  of  the  country 
our  industries  might  be  likened  to  placer-mining  that  gathers  by 
rough  and  ready  methods  the  gold  accumulated  in  the  surface 
wash.  In  many  respects  we  are  only  beginning  to  emerge  from 
conditions  of  primitive  development,  so  far  as  both  industrial  and 
political  organization  is  concerned. 

Politically  we  are  still  a  nation  of  small  j)olitical  units,  each 
preoccupied  with  its  individual  ])roblems  and  each  working  in 
large  part  independently  of  and   often   in   competition    with    its 


16 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Correlated 

Efforts 

Needed 


War  Crisis 
Emphasizes 
Need  of 
Nation  for 
Common  Ef- 
fort 


After  Lum- 
bering, What? 


neighbor.  In  public  works,  as,  for  example,  road  building  and 
flood  control,  uncorrelated  effort  between  counties  and  towns  re- 
sults in  failure  or  in  achievement  by  a  very  costly  route.  There 
is  often  lack  of  sympathy  and  confidence  between  county  and 
state,  or  state  and  federal  government,  and  lack  of  mutual  con- 
fidence between  counties  and  between  states.  So  that  when  the 
larger  unit  of  government  is  appealed  to  for  aid  in  inter-county 
or  inter-state  luidertakings.  localism  manifests  itself  in  demands 
for  the  lion's  share  of  common  funds. 

We  are  only  just  beginning  to  feel  an  economic  pressure  re- 
quiring harmony  of  purpose  and  unity  of  effort  in  internal  af- 
fairs; and  we  are  facing  in  the  present  international  crisis  the 
consciousness  of  national'  weakness  because  of  the  lack  of  cor- 
relation between  our  many  separate  political  units.  We  are  also 
just  beginning  to  appreciate  that  there  is  a  lack  of  industrial  or- 
ganization of  the  country,  that  public  interests  and  industry  have 
a  vital  relationship,  that  the  industries  of  one  locality  are  of  im- 
portance to  other  localities  and  to  the  people  as  a  whole. 

The  very  wealth  of  readily  available  resources  has  made  it 
possible  for  individual  undertakings  to  succeed  and  localities  to 
prosper.  When  the  cream  has  been  skimmed  off,  communities 
discover  that  they  have  not  been  building  permanently.  The 
larger  public  learns  that  sources  of  supply  are  exhausted,  and  dis- 
tress is  caused  by  inability  to  obtain  new  supplies  readily  and  at 
reasonable  cost.  And  when  there  is  an  unusual  stress,  such  as 
the  present,  the  nation  having  the  greatest  resources  of  all  na- 
tions sees  local  shortages  of  a  great  variety  of  products  such  as 
coal,  timber,  steel  and  foodstuffs. 

The  consequences  of  the  local  exhaustion  of  virgin  resources 
are  very  serious  unless  there  is  a  replacement  by  a  productive 
use  of  the  land.  In  many  sections  the  first  industry  is  lumber- 
ing. If  the  land  is  rich  and  tillable  agriculture  follows  with  its 
farm  homes,  communities,  cities  and  related  manufacturing. 

In  the  South  you  are  now  facing  the  problem^  of  progressive- 
ly diminishing  virgin  resources,  and  what  you  are  going  to  do  to 
sustain  and  build  up  local  industry.  Lumbering  has  been  your 
foremost  industry.  Today  the  South  leads  in  lumber  production. 
In  1880  the  South  produced  about  12  per  cent  of  the  nation's 
lumber  cut;  in  1914  the  proportion  of  lumber  from  the  South 
was  nearly  50  per  cent.     All  know  that  the  virgin  supplies  are 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  17 


Ldkc  Sl<ttcs 
Much    of 


hfting  rapidly  depleted  and  will  be  largely  cut  out  iu  a  c<niple  of 
decades. 

We  have  seen  the  Lake  States  leading  the  country  in  lum- 
ber production  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  now  yielding  only 
about  10  per  cent  of  the  nation's  requirements.  What  is  replac- 
ing these  industries?  In  some  places  agriculture,  but  over  many 
millions  of  acres  nothing — a  vast  wilderness,  fire  swept  and  bar-  I-orest  Area 
rcii  of  useful  products,  here  and  there  a  trace  of  a  former  saw-  ^-^/'  Barren 

mill  town,  old  farms  deserted  because  the  local   industry  with   ""         ripopu- 

'  111      Ifitcd 

its  markets  is  goile,  roads  almost  impassable  because  the  taxable 

resources  that  would  keep  them  up  has  been  destroyed,  a  virtual 

depopulation  of  hundreds  of  square  miles. 

Today  the  great  paper  mills  of  the  Lake  States  with  millions 
invested  in  equipment  and  water  power  are  embarrassed  to  se- 
cure supplies  of  wood,  and  they  face  the  necessity  to  import 
wood  from  a  great  distance  or  to  abandon  their  plants.  Inquiries 
have  already  been  made  whether  material  could  be  secured  from 
the  National  Forests  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  supply  paper 
mills  in  Wisconsin  ;  and  it  has  always  been  hard  for  me  to  recon- 
cile myself  to  the  importation  of  wood  pulp  from  Scandinavia  to 
points  1,000  miles  in  our  interior. 

For  many  years  the  United  States  has  occupied  a  command- 
ing position  in  the  production  of  naval  stores.  I  believe  that  we 
liave  been  producing  about  80  per  cent  of  the  world's  supply. 
This  country  has  the  best  source  of  supply  of  the  world  in  re- 
spect to  species  of  trees,  climate  and  accessibility — conditions 
unexcelled  anywhere.  Yet  we  are  rapidly  dissipating  this  re- 
source, and  if  we  keep  on,  not  only  the  South,  but  the  country, 
will  lose  its  place  as  an  important  producer  of  naval  stores.  We 
know  that  we  can  get  turpentine  from  Western  ])ine,  and  can  by 
distillation  obtain  it  from  Douglas  fir  and  other  species,  but  pos- 
sibly with  less  yield  and  greater  cost.  Tlie  Southeast  with  its 
long  leaf  and  slash  pine  is  the  logical  place  for  turpentine  pro- 
duction. It  is  important  both  to  the  locality  and  to  the  nation  to 
have  this  thirty-five  million  dollar  industry  continued.  Is  ii 
necessary  for  the  South  to  lose  its  place  in  turpentine  production 
or  in  lumber  production?  If  they  were  to  be  replaced  by  agri- 
culture, production  of  cotton,  corn  and  other  farm  products,  and 
the  land  now  producing  trees  were  turned  into  productive  fields. 
I  should  say  that  there  would  be  no  less,  but  perhaps  a  gain. 


Xaral  Stores 
Industry  En- 
(l(in(/cred 


18 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


If  A  Per- 
manent  Lum- 
ber Supply 
May  Be 
Assured 


SIoiv  Devel- 
opment of 
Cut-Over 
Lands 


Fires  and 
Hogs     Retard 
Reforestation 


But  that  is  not  the  case.  There  is  an  opportunity  for  an  agri- 
cultural development  of  gigantic  proportions,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  permanent  turpentine  and  lumber  industry.  Millions  of 
acres  of  land  in  the  South  are  unsuited  to  crop  growing,  but 
capable  of  producing  trees  of  exceptionally  rapid  growth.  Shall 
we  sacrifice  tree  production  on  the  whole  because  a  part  of  the 
land  is  better  suited  for  crops?  Is  it  not  possible  to  carry  on 
both  industries  side  by  side  with  the  land  devoted  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  naturally  is  best  suited? 

Pennsylvania  is  sometimes  held  up  as  an  example  of  a  state 
that  originally  was  a  prominent  lumber  producing  center,  and 
in  which  that  industry  is  now  replaced  by  manufacturing,  agri- 
culture and  mining  that  makes  it  one  of  our  richest  common- 
wealths. It  is  true  that  in  the  broad  valleys  fields  have  replaced 
the  forest.  It  is  true  that  mining  and  manufacturing  places 
the  state  in  the  front  ranks  of  wealth.  But  it  is  also  true  that 
over  great  portions  of  the  state  the  forest  has  been  replaced  by 
a  waste  of  scrub  oak  and  sweet  fern,  with  a  scanty  population 
struggling  against  the  most  adverse  conditions  to  hold  their 
own.  Today  the  state  is  trying  to  reclaim  its  mountain  wastes 
in  order  to  restore  the  logical  resource  of  much  of  the  region, 
the  forest,  and  lay  the  foundation  for  future  productiveness  and 
industry  where  the  land  today  is  a  burden  on  the  public. 

What  is  happening  now  in  the  South?  Are  the  logged  off 
lands  being  settled  up,  and  is  lumbering  being  replaced  by  agri- 
culture? In  general  the  extension  of  agriculture  over  logged  off 
pine  lands  is  exceedingly  slow.  It  is  doubtful  whether  at  the 
present  time  the  movement  much  more  than  offsets  the  aban- 
donment of  cleared  lands.  We  know,  for  example,  that  between 
1900  and  1910  there  was  an  actual  decrease  in  improved  lands  in 
over  25  per  cent  of  the  counties  of  the  pine  region.  I  presume 
that  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  demand  for  logged  off  land  for  agri- 
culture does  not  exceed  10  per  cent  of  the  area  cut  over  each 
year. 

To  a  limited  extent  logg^ed  off  lands  are  grazed  and  in  places 
there  is  some  forest  growth  coming  back.  Most  timber  land 
owners  take  the  position  that  forestry  is  not  practical  for  them, 
so  that  fires  continue  to  run  over  the  lands,  preventing  in  large 
measure  a  regrowth  of  trees.  In  some  sections  also  unregulated 
running  of  hogs  on  the  range  effectively  checks  the  reproduc- 
tion of  long  leaf  pine.    Tree  growth  is  accidental  and  such  as  oc- 


The  Dawn  of  a  Sew  Constructive  Era 19 

curs  is  in  spite  of  the  forest  fires  and  other  adverse  agencies. 
In  short,  the  present  resource  is  not  being  replaced  by  any  other 
that  will  equal  it  in  value.  The  state  is  therefore  suffering  a  net 
loss  every  year. 

The  question  then  arises  whether  the  failure  to  settle  up 
the  logged* off  lands  is  a  temporary  condition,  and  whether  with 
organized  effort  settlers  cannot  be  induced  to  take  up  the  lands 
much  more  rapidly  in  the  near  future. 

The  fact  that  the  lands  are  level  or  moderately  rolling,  that 
an  analysis  of  the  soil  shows  some  crop  raising  possibilities,  and 
that  the  climate  is  favorable,  has  misled  many  persons  regard- 
ing the  immediate  development  of  these  regions.  While  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  land  of  good  quality,  we  must  also  recognize 

the  fact  that  there  are  in  the  aggregate  immense  areas  that  are  Much  of  the 

,  "if  •   •  I     4.1         Land  Losiiu/ 

too  poor  ever  to  be  used  permanently  for  crop  raismg  and  other  ^^^   Va///<' 

areas  which  can  be  made  productive  only  by  abundant  fertilizers 
and  rather  intensive  methods  of  farming  and  which  probably  will 
not  be  profitable  to  cultivate  for  a  long  time.  Repeated  ground 
fires  are  making  these  lands  even  p(X)rer,  both  for  possible  culti- 
vation and  for  grazing. 

The  problem  in  this  region  is  not  only  to  get  the  real  agri- 
cultural lands  settled  up,  but  to  secure  the  productive  use  of  the 
balance.  The  combined  use  of  the  lands  not  of  immediate  agri- 
cultural use  for  grazing  and  forestry  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  an- 
swer to  the  question. 

It  happens  that  in  the  Gulf  States  you  have  conditions  for 
forest  production  equaled  only  in  portions  of  the  north  Pacific 
region.  Your  pines  grow  with  very  astonishing  rapidity,  so  that 
in  considering  returns  it  is  not  necessary  to  think  in  terms  of  a 
century  or  more,  as  in  certain  mountain  regions. 

Within  the  regions  suited  to  the  growth  of  slash  and  long 

leaf  pine  we  have  the  possibility  of  producing  turpentine  on  a 

very  practical  basis.    Studies  by  the  Forest  Service  indicate  that 

slash  pine  in  natural  stands  can  be  used  for  turpentine  in  twenty    Ten  Per  Cent 

to  thirty  years,  and  is  capable  of  yielding  as  much  as  500  cups  per  Profit  Pos- 

acre.    These  voung  stands  are  boxed  now,  but  so  severelv  treated   *^   .^. '"     „, 
t         ,  'j  J  •      .  f  TT     .        ,'   T-         1     liaising     7 iir- 

that  they  are  destroyed  m  three  or  four  years.     Under  the  r  rench    pp^jtine  Trees 

method  the  trees  could  be  worked  for  from  twenty-five  to  fifty 

years.     In  much  of  the  South   the  long  leaf  pine  could  not  be 

worked  for  turpentine  quite  as  early,  but  in  each  case  the  pro- 


20  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

duction  age  could  be  considerably  reduced  by  thinnings  such  as 
are  made  in  the  Maritime  Pine  forests  of  southern  France.  Here, 
then,  we  have  a  possibility  of  raising  trees  for  turpentine  on  a 
very  profitable  basis  with  the  naval  stores  the  chief  product  and 
,  the  wood  a  by-product.     Estimates  by  the  Forest  Service  show 

the  possibility  of  a  10  per  cent  investment,  based  on  $5.00  land. 
This  is  pretty  good  for  land  that  is  not  suited,  at  the  present 
time,  for  agriculture. 

In  the  matter  of  timber  production  the  South  is  in  an  ex- 
ceptionally favorable  position.  Examples  may  be  multiplied 
which  demonstrate  that  young  long  leaf  pine  stands  are  growing 
at  the  rate  of  from  600  to  800  board  feet  per  acre  per  annum, 
J  and,  where  properly  thinned,  would  yield  more.  Loblolly  Pine 
under  reasonably  favorable  conditions  grows  with  equal  rapidity. 
Such  growth,  of  course,  occurs  only  where  there  is  a  reasonably 
good  stand  of  trees. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  public,  production  of  even  200 
feet  per  acre  per  annum  would  be  of  great  value.  It  would 
mean  a  growth  over  the  whole  region  of  over  twelve  to  fifteen 
billion  feet,  enough  to  sustain  the  turpentine  industry  and  a 
lumber  industry  of  large  proportions  in  the  aggregate  for  many 
years.  I  believe  that  it  is  entirely  possible  to  secure  this  growth, 
by  organized  fire  protection  and  by  the  systematic  use  of  the 
pine  lands  for  grazing,  agriculture  and  forestry. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  admin- 
istration of  the  National  Forests  has  been  the  practicability  of 
producing  timber  and  live  stock  on  the  same  lands.  In  the 
West  as  in  the  South  the  forests  are  chiefly  coniferous.  For- 
Growing  Tim-   merly  these  lands  were  over-grazed  and  as  a  result  were  steadily 

ber  and  Live  (deteriorating  in  productiveness  of  forage,  and  the  forest  growth 

Stock  on  the  ....        ,       „,  ,  i   ^  j 

s  r     rJ       ^^^  progressively  mjured.      ihe   system   of  regulated   grazmg 

now  in  effect  has  largely  restored  the  forest  range,  stopped 
erosion  and  safeguarded  forest  production.  The  same  can  be 
done  in  the  South.  Unless  I  am  misinformed,  the  constant  abuse 
of  the  Southern  lands  by  fire  is  steadily  lowering  their  value  for 
grazing  and  for  possible  later  agriculture.  Control  of  fire  and 
regulated  grazing  would  make  these  lands  more  productive. 

Still  another  result  in  the  National  Forests  has  been  the  de- 
velopment of  scattered  agricultural  lands  directly  due  to  the 
public  forestry  enterprise.  The  activities  connected  with  the 
forests,  and  the  stability  of  grazing  on  the/  public  forests,  are 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  (lonslruciiue  Era  21 


bringing-  in  settlers  to  occupy  lands  that  could  not  be  developed 
if  these  other   resources  were  not   being  built   u])   at  the   same 
time.     It  would,  I  believe,  work  in  the  same  way  in  the  South. 
Every  active  step  in  the  way  of  using  the  non-agricultural  lands 
for  grazing  and  forestry  stimulates  the  use  of  agricultural  lands   ^;,.f,„/^,^^  ,,„^/ 
and   building    up    of    communities.     The   National   Forests   are   Forestru 
carrying  over  ten  million  head  of  live  stock  and  growing  trees   Stimulate 
at  the  same  time;  and  the  lands  suited  tt)  farming  are  being  oc-   Agriculture 
cupied  bv  actual  settlers,  most  of  whom  would  not  have  an  out- 
look  for   permanence   if  the   old   system   of   forest    fires,   of   ex- 
ploitation of  timber  with  no  regard  for  restocking,  and  of  unreg- 
ulated over-grazing  of  the  mountain  slopes  prevailed. 

Granted  the  truth  of  these  contentions,  how  can  the  results 
be  attained  in  the  South?  Unquestionably  it  will  be  possible  to 
get  private  capital  interested  in  handling  lands  for  turpentine 
production.  The  profits  are  certain  and  the  period  before  actual 
returns  reasonable.  But  the  average  timber  land  owner  balks  at 
even  a  forty-year  proposition  of  tree  growing.  So  far  the  so- 
called  conservation  programs  of  the  lumbermen  of  this  region  Forestry  Not 
have  wholly  left  out  the  continuance  of  the  forest  by  regrowth.  Impractical 
Thus  the  proposal  recently  made  through  the  National  Chamber 
of  Commerce  to  urge  Congress  to  permit  agreements  in  restraint 
of  trade  where  this  would  promote  conservation  of  primary  nat- 
ural resources  had  in  view  only  the  saving  of  waste  in  exploiting 
present  resources.  Forest  production  by  growth  was  overlooked 
as  impractical. 

Personally  I  do  not  have  much  expectation  that  many  ])ri- 
vate  owners  of  land  in  the  South  will  individually  undertake  for- 
estry merely  on  a  showing  that  these  lands  are  capable  of 
producing  thirty  to  forty  thousand  feet  per  acre  in  forty  years. 

Nor  do  I  believe  that  they  will  succeed  in  colonizing  their  cut-    „   „     ,.       ,,. 

■^  .  Collective  hf- 

over  lands  on  any  large  scale  under  plans  now  m  vogue.     Specu-  /^^^   A'^'ccv- 

lative  land  boosting  would  react  to  the  injury  of  the  country,  sary 
Often  land  may  be  sold,  but  not  developed.  On  the  other  hand. 
I  believe  the  plan  of  combining  agriculttire,  grazing  and  for- 
estry is  entirely  practical,  and  can  be  successfully  undertaken 
through  collective  effort.  The  results  are  so  important  that  I 
believe  that  this  collective  effort  should  include  the  public  as 
well  as  the  private  owners  of  the  land. 

First  of  all,  there  has  got  to  be  some  stability  of  ownershi]j 
of  the  land  and  policy  of  its  use.     Where  non-resident  owners 


22 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


State    Owner- 
ship  Would 
Have  Some 
Advantages 


Private 
Owners  Must 
Face  the 
Problem 


who  have  bought  the  land  for  its  timber  are  simply  holding  the 
land  until  they  can  sell  it  at  almost  any  price,  but  little  can  be 
done.  If,  however,  the  owners  retain  the  land  with  a  view  to  its 
productive  use,  plans  can  be  put  into  effect  involving  the  de- 
velopment of  the  property  for  the  various  uses  for  which  its 
different  parts  are  best  suited.  Neighboring  owners  could  co- 
ordinate their  activities  of  fire  protection,  grazing  administra- 
tion and  forestry,  just  as  the  Government  does  with  other  owners 
whose  lands  are  adjacent  to  and  interlocking  with  the  National 
Forests.  Of  course,  the  plan  would  work  out  most  simply  if  the 
state  owned  all  the  lands.  It  would  sell  the  agricultural  lands 
to  settlers  and  for  townsites ;  it  would  sell  timber  as  we  do  in 
the  National  Forest,  retaining  title  to  the  land  and  providing 
for  protection  and  regrowth ;  it  would  lease  grazing  privileges  on 
the  same  lands  and  would  provide  for  miscellaneous  special  uses 
of  the  lands  as  demands  might  arise.  A  great  deal  of  the  grazing 
would  ultimately  be  by  the  settlers  who  would  build  up  herds  in 
connection  with  their  farms.  The  grazing  privileges  would  re- 
sult in  an  increasing  number  of  settlers  who  would  combine  ag- 
riculture and  stock  raising  and  thus  use  land  for  agriculture  that 
without  the  grazing  would  not  support  a  family.  Progressively 
the  agricultural  land  would  thus  be  occupied  and  the  balance 
put  to  its  best  use. 

The  timber  would  furnish  a  stable  and  permanent  industry 
and  contribute  also  to  the  increased  use  of  agricultural  lands, 
through  the  markets  for  food  and  hay  and  the  chance  for  part- 
time  employment  connected  with  its  various  activities.  This  is 
the  sort  of  thing  that  is  actually  occurring  on  an  extensive  scale 
where  the  Government  owns  the  land  in  the  National  Forests. 

The  public  does  not  own  the  pine  lands  of  the  South,  and  it 
may  not  be  feasible  to  acquire  them.  The  question  is  whether 
it  is  possible  to  secure  under  private  ownership  their  productive 
use,  even  if  that  is  not  as  complete  as  if  the  state  owned  the 
lands.  The  public  interests  in  the  right  handling  of  these  lands 
is  so  great,  the  public  loss  from  wrong  handling  so  far  reaching, 
that  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  before  the  states  themselves 
will  enact  regulatory  and  restrictive  legislation  regarding  them 
if  they  are  allowed  to  become  an  unproductive  waste.  A  better 
plan,  in  my  opinion,  is  for  the  public  and  private  agencies  to 
unite  forces  now  and  by  joint  effort  work  out  a  method  for  put- 
ting the  development  of  the  pine  lands  on  a  permanent  and 
stable  basis. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  23 

We  need  in  this  problem,  as  in  many  other  matters,  not  so 
much  regulation  by  the  state  as  correlated  action  and  joint  effort 
by  the  public  and  private  agencies,  working  toward  a  common   Co-operation 
puri)Ose.     This  plan   is   in   successful  operation   in   the  West  in  Preferable  to 
forest  fire  protection   and   in   the   handling  of  grazing  matters.  State  Reau- 
WMiile  conditions  are  different  in  the  South,  the  principle  is,   I    '^^'o/i 
believe,  feasible  if  the  land  owners  are  prepared  to  enter  upon  a 
far-reaching  plan  of  land  administration. 

There  would  be  involved  first  of  all  a  classification  of  the 
land  and  a  survey  of  the  resources,  both  timber  and  grazing; 
then  a  plan  of  development,  administration,  finance  and  control. 

Personally    I    should   like   to   see  a   plan   worked   out   for  a 
specified  group  of  holdings,  under  the   direction   of  a  board  or 
committee  composed  of  representatives  of  the  owners  and  of  the 
public  agencies  that  might  be  interested,   as   the   county,   state   Offers   Assist- 
and  federal  government.     If  such  joint  enterprises  could  be  un-   unce    of   For- 
dertaken  it  would  turn  the  course  of  the  use  of  the  pine  lands   ''*'  -^^^'"^^ 
from   a   progressive   destruction   of   resources   to   an    upbuilding 
process.     If  such  constructive  enterprise  should  be  initiated  you 
may  confidently  count  on  the  support  of  the  Forest  Service. 


24  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

Practical  Utilization  of  Cut- 
Over  Lands 

By  Stanley  F.  Morse 

Consulting  Agricultural  Expert,  formerly  of  the 
University  of  Arizona 

Gentlemen : — I  am  going  to  endeavor,  in  a  very  few  mo- 
ments, to  outline  briefly  the  possible  methods  of  practical  utili- 
zation of  these  cut-over  lands.  The  first  thing  I  want  to  call 
your  attention  to  is  the  fact  that  the  method  of  utilization  should 
be  based  on  the  local  conditions.  I  find,  in  going  over  the  cut- 
over  lands,  that  there  doesn't  seem  to  be  enough  attention  paid 
to  this  fact — that  there  is  a  great  variety  in  the  conditions 
amongst  which  these  various  lands  are  situated. 

For  instance,  let  us  take  the  conditions  that  will  obtain  in 

the  different  sections  where  the  cut-over  lands  are  located.    We 

Difjcrences  in    ^^^  ^y^^^  ^^^  ^^.g^  ^^^  most  vital  difference  is  that  of  climate.     I 

Climate    Must     .      ,  .  i-       ^i  •  u    j-rr 

B    Consid-         don  t  suppose  many  of  you  realize  there  is  so  much  diiierence, 

^.r^ff  but  if  you  will  travel  north  from  New  Orleans  a  hundred  miles 

you  will  find  there  is  an  appreciable  difference  in  the  dates  of 
early  and  late  frosts,  and  in  the  mildness  of  the  winter. 

Let  us  take  simply  the  mildness  of  the  winter.  That  makes 
a  great  deal  of  difference  from  a  cattle-raising  standpoint,  be- 
cause in  the  milder  sections  you  not  only  do  not  need  such  elab- 
orate shelters,  but  the  feed  will  remain  greener  for  a  longer 
period.  Then,  of  course,  the  early  and  late  frosts  help  to  deter- 
mine the  kind  of  crops  you  can  plant.  So  the  first  thing  to  be 
considered  is  the  matter  of  climate,  and  that  is  also  tempered 
by  the  elevation.  For  instance,  you  may  strike  a  certain  locality 
which  is  considerably  higher  than  another,  and  you  will  find  that 
the  temperature  is  cooler ;  and  in  another  place  in  the  same  latitude 
lower  down  you  will  find  a  milder  climate. 

The  second  thing  is  the  soil.     A  great  many  people  seem  to 

t"  \j^'o'^-j  think  the  land  of  the  cut-over  section  is  more  or  less  the  same 

Land  Soils  .         ^  „  ,  r  r         t  ^  <•         j 

Offer   Wide       ^^"^  of  soil.     That  is  a  fallacy.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  found 

Variety  soils  varying  in  the  cut-over  district  from  a  heavy  clay  to  a  very 

light  sand.     That  will  make  a  considerable    difference    as    to    the 


The  Dawn  of  a  Sew  (lon.struclive  Era  25 


utilization  of  those  lands.  The  type  of  as^riculture  which  you  are 
going  to  attempt  to  carry  on  successfully  will  be  governed  to  a 
large  extent  by  the  fertility  and  type  of  the  soil.  Of  course,  the 
heavy  types  of  soil  are  apt  to  be  poorly  drained  and  have  to  be 
broken  up,  while  the  lighter  types  have  not  so  much  of  the  or- 
ganic matter  in  them  and  are  well  drained,  and  in  some  cases 
quite  leachy. 

I  haven't  the  time  to  go  into  this  matter  in  detail,  but  I 
want  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  in  developing  the  method  of 
utilization  of  this  cut-over  land  you  have  to  study  your  soil  con- 
ditions as  well  as  climatic  conditions  and  then  adapt  your  crops 
or  live  stock  to  these  conditions. 

The  next  factor  which  I  would  call  your  attention  to,  and 
which  is  also  of  considerable  importance,  is  the  matter  of  topog- 
raphy ;  in  other  words,  what  the  farmer  calls  "the  lay  of  the  land." 
We  may  have  flat  lands,  gently  rolling  lands  and  hilly  lands. 
What  difference  does  that  make  in  the  utilization  of  the  land  from 
an  agricultural  standpoint?  It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the 
world.  P^or  instance,  where  the  land  is  level  in  large  areas  it  is  •"j'y,^  l^^^^.  ^jt 
generally  recognized  that  a  rather  extensive  type  of  agriculture  the  Land." 
can  usually  be  profitably  practised,  for  the  reason  that  it  permits 
of  the  use  of  labor-saving  tractor  or  horse-drawn  machinery.  If 
you  have  land  broken  up  by  hills  and  you  attempt  to  run  large 
tillage  implements  over  it,  you  will  find  that  your  cost  of  oper- 
ation is  considerably  increased.  So  a  vital  factor  that  I  would 
call  your  attention  to  is  the  matter  of  topography. 

I  might  also  point  out  that  where  you  have  rolling  or  hilly 
lands  you  get  better  drainage ;  and  there  is  also  a  tendency  for 
the  land  to  wash,  so  that  if  you  intend  to  raise  cultivated  crops 
you  are  going  to  have  to  terrace  your  lands.  Such  lands  would 
better  be  kept  in  sod  for  pasture  or  hay. 

This  would  be  a  better  and  more  natural  utilization  of  the 
land  under  local  conditions.  I  emphasize  again,  then,  that  the 
topography  of  the  land  is  a  very  vital  factor,  which  will  influence 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  type  of  agriculture  you  engage  in. 
I  have  seen  a  number  of  different  methods  of  development  tried, 
and  in  many  of  them  there  seems  to  have  been  little  attention  paid 
to  these  factors. 

Then  comes  the  fourth  factor,  of  transi)ortation.  You  hear 
a  great  deal  of  talk  about  the  utilization  of  cut-over  lands  for 
truck  raising.    If  you  are  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  a  railroad,  how 


26 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Transporta- 
tion Facilities 
Vital  Factor 
in  Type  of 
Crops  Grown 


Cut-Over 
Lands  Ideal 
for  Pasturage 


Live  Stock 
Farms  Must 
Be  of  Proper 
Size 


will  you  get  your  perishable  products  to  the  market?  That 
brings  up  the  question  of  to  what  extent  may  we  utilize  these 
cut-over  lands,  far  distant  from  railroads,  for  the  production  of 
more  intensive  crops?  Naturally,  the  utilization  of  lands  for 
this  purpose  is  limited. 

As  to  the  adapted  agricultural  products,  very  briefly,  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  type  of  utilization  which  will  be  most 
profitable  for  these  cut-over  lands  is  live  stock.  In  the  first 
place,  there  are  two  or  three  things  which  lead  to  that  conclusion. 
The  average  cut-over  land  is  what  might  be  called  of  medium  to 
low  fertility.  The  fertility,  as  a  rule,  is  not  high,  although  I 
have  seen  some  that  were  in  a  very  good  state  of  fertility ;  but 
the  average  is  rather  a  low  state  of  fertility.  That  means  that 
if  you  try  to  produce  food  crops  or  any  other  kind  you  will  have 
to  fertilize  highly  or  set  aside  a  period  of  years  during  which  to 
build  up  your  soil,  and  that  will  increase  the  cost  of  producing 
your  crops  and  is  going  to  make  the  production  of  certain  crops 
unprofitable. 

In  the  second  place,  these  lands  are  cheap.  The  grasses  are 
fairly  good,  lespedeza  is  coming  in,  and  the  pasture  possibilities 
of  these  lands  seem  to  be  almost  unlimited ;  and  on  the  rolHng 
lands  the  sod  tends  to  hold  the  soil.  You  have  a  natural  utiliza- 
tion there  by  nature's  work,  and  you  should  utilize  that  pasture 
in  some  way. 

I  have  recently  come  from  the  West,  and  we  find  that  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  cattle  are  being  raised  on  cheap  pasture 
— what  is  known  as  the  range  system ;  and  the  only  reason  we 
can  do  that  is  because  we  have  an  abundance  of  this  cheap  pas- 
ture and  we  can  afford  to  let  our  cows  graze  over  this  pasture 
and  virtually  take  care  of  themselves  and  raise  their  calves ;  and 
then  these  animals,  when  they  are  large  enough,  are  shipped  to 
the  richer  lands  for  fattening  for  the  market.  That  seems  to  be 
the  most  common  and  natural  utilization  of  this  cut-over  land. 
Another  thing:  The  need  for  more  beef  cattle  is  an  increasing 
one,  and  if  these  lands  are  available  in  large  areas,  and  are  cheap 
and  adapted  to  pasture  crops,  that  should  encourage  the  influx  of 
large  cattle  owners  who  can  operate  on  a  big  scale,  and  they  can 
produce  feeders  more  economically  than  some  of  the  small  men. 
That  doesn't  mean  there  is  no  place  for  the  smaller  live  stock 
farmer,  because  I  believe  there  is.  One  point  there:  When  you 
try  to  induce  the  farmer  to  practice  live  stock  raising,  you  should 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructipe  Era  27 


Sheep  Raising 


not  sell  him  a  farm  too  small.  I  notice  some  of  the  cut-over 
land  owners  are  cutting  their  lands  up  in  parcels  which,  on  the 
very  face  of  the  thing,  are  too  small  to  enable  the  man  to  make  a 
decent  living.  The  amount  of  income  which  a  live  stock  farmer 
can  secure  from  an  acre  is  limited  by  the  number  of  cattle  it  will 
support,  and  if  you  limit  him  to  a  certain  number  of  acres  his 
aggregate  income  will  not  be  sufficient  to  make  him  a  decent 
living,  and  then  he  will  get  discouraged.  In  the  West  and  other 
parts  of  the  country  we  have  found  that  you  must  have  a  size  of 
farm  which  is  sufficient  to  give  the  farmer  an  aggregate  income 
which  will  enable  him  to  operate  profitably.  So  there  is  a  place 
for  both  the  large  and  the  medium-sized  farmer. 

Not  only  cattle,  but  sheep,  can  be  grown  here  economically, 
and  on  some  of  the  cut-over  lands  I  have  seen  hogs  which  are   and  Forage 
as  fat  as  you  could  desire,  in  the  middle  of  January — simply  Crop  Possibil- 
rolling  fat;  and  these  hogs  did  not  have  the  advantage  of  winter   ities 
green  crops  such  as  oats  or  crimson  clover. 

The  other  utilization  will  be  by  means  of  crops.  What  can 
we  raise?  We  cannot  raise,  I  believe,  gentlemen,  what  might 
be  known  as  the  foodstuff  crops.  If  we  attempt  to  raise  wheat 
and  barley  and  products  of  that  sort,  which  can  be  more  eco- 
nomically produced  on  better  or  richer  lands  elsewhere,  we  will 
make  a  mistake ;  but  if  we  raise  forage  crops  which  are  naturally 
adapted  to  these  cut-over  lands,  that  is  more  apt  to  give  you  an 
income.  You  can  either  feed  them  to  the  cattle  or  sell  them, 
and  you  have  a  ready  money  crop.  Among  those  I  might  men- 
tion the  cow  pea,  lespedeza  and  various  other  legumes  and 
grasses  which  are  already  adapted  for  producing  feed  crops  to 
sell  as  hay  or  feed  to  your  stock.  If  you  desire  to  raise  grain 
crops,  there  are  only  two  crops  you  can  give  consideration  to — 
oats  and  corn ;  also,  maybe  some  legumes  or  cow  pea  seed.  Oats 
and  corn  will  probably  be  a  fairly  profitable  crop ;  oats  is  not  very 
profitable  under  the  best  of  conditions,  but  it  is  probably  better 
than  corn.  In  looking  over  the  cut-over  lands.  I  find  corn  is  a 
very  light  producer.  We  find  there  is  a  range  of  from  fifteen  to 
thirty  bushels  per  acre,  and  the  lower  yields  seem  to  be  more 
common.  Since  most  of  the  cut-over  lands  are  hilly,  or  of  a 
broken  character,  it  is  questionable  how  economical  it  will  be  to 
attempt  to  cultivate  corn  on  lands  of  that  character.  This  same 
statement  applies  to  cotton,  which  is  a  fairly  profitable  money  crop 
under  favorable  conditions. 


28 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Three  Best 
Means  of 
Utilization 


Success 
Assured  If 
Proper   Meth- 
ods Followed 


One  more  thing :  I  have  mentioned  forage  crops  and  grain 
crops,  and  have  forgotten  to  make  any  mention  of  truck  prod- 
ucts— the  money  crops.  In  certain  locaHties  a  valuable  utiliza- 
tion of  the  lands  may  be  made  through  the  growing  of  vegetables 
and  fruits.  To  a  limited  extent,  and  along  the  lines  of  trans- 
portation, there  is  no  question  but  that,  with  the  aid  of  fertiliz- 
ers, we  may  be  able  to  raise  adapted  crops  of  vegetables  and 
fruits ;  but  we  must  not  get  away  from  the  lines  of  transporta- 
tion.    Therefore,  there  are  three  main  lines  of  utilization : 

First,  cattle  raising,  which  is  the  largest  and  will  be  the  best 
method  of  utilization  to  start  with ;  it  .will  be  most  profitable 
and,  to  a  large  degree,  the  tendency  will  be  to  run  these  cattle 
on  a  large  scale  for  the  prodiiction  of  feeders  for  the  market. 

Second,  moderate-sized  live  stock  farming  will  have  a  limited 
application,  where  the  farm  is  not  of  too  small  a  size,  and  there 
is  carried  on  a  diversified  sort  of  farming  with  emphasis  on  cattle, 
hogs,  sheep  and  poultry. 

Third,  we  can  raise  forage  crops,  for  the  market  and  for  live 
stock  feeding,  and  there  will  be  the  limited  production  of  certain 
grain  and  seed  crops :  and  then  we  shall  have  the  more  intensive 
money  crops,  such  as  vegetables  and  fruits,  in  limited  adapted  areas 
close  to  transportation. 

That,  gentlemen,  in  a  very  brief  way,  is  an  outline  of  the 
utilization  of  these  lands ;  and  I  want  to  emphasize  once  more 
the  necessity  of  thoroughly  analyzing  your  local  conditions  be- 
fore you  attempt  to  start  farming  or  colonizing  operations.  If  I 
had  time  I  should  like  to  talk  to  you  more  about  these  things, 
but  the  important  thing  for  you  people  to  do,  before  you  attempt 
to  do  anything  with  certain  lands,  is  to  have  your  conditions 
thoroughly  analyzed  and  have  a  plan  of  farming  utilization  care- 
fully worked  out  in  advance  which  has  a  chance  for  success  in 
it,  rather  than  one  which  has  a  chance  for  failure.  And  in  sell- 
ing your  land  to  colonists  be  sure  that  for  the  type  of  farming 
you  are  advocating  you  have  adopted  the  proper  area.  Before 
you  get  through  you  will  agree  with  me  that  you  must  have 
farms  of  the  proper  size,  according  to  the  type  of  farming  your 
farmers  will  engage  in ;  and  you  should  see  that  every  assistance 
is  given  your  farmers  to  follow  out  the  type  of  farming  chosen 
as  being  best  adapted  to  your  conditions.     (Applause.) 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructiue  Era  29 


Agriculture  from  a  National 
Standpoint 

By  Hon.  Carl  Vrooman 

Assistant  Secretary,  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture 

I  shall  talk  to  you  in  a  sketchy,  general  sort  of  way  about  the 
fundamental  policies  involved  in  the  consideration  of  the  prob- 
lems up  for  discussion  at  this  Conference.  We  have,  in  the 
region  under  consideration — according  to  data  I  have  brought 
from  Washington — about  76,000,000  acres  of  cut-over  land  on 
which  there  is  more  or  less  second  growth,  and  about  15.000.000 
acres  on  which  there  is  no  second  growth — on  which  nothing  is 
being  produced. 

The  problem  is,  what  are  we  g"oing  to  do  with  these  lands? 
Tt  is  a  large  subject,  and  you  have  wisely  cut  it  up  into  sub- 
divisions and  assigned  experts  to  speak  on  each  topic  involved. 
I  shall  merely  make  a  brief,  general  survey  of  the  question  as  a 
whole.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  would  like  to  encourag-e 
the  development  for  agricultural  purposes  of  all  this  area  which 
is  adapted  to  agricultural  purposes.  We  do  not  know  how 
much  of  it  is  adapted  to  agricultural  purposes,  and  you  do  not 
know;  and,  therefore,  the  first  and  most  important  step  that  T 
can  sug:gest  is  to  have  a  survey  made — such  as  we  make  in  Pi^^^^  Work 
the  national  forests — to  ascertain  which  of  these  lands  are  suit-  ,  '^",  ^  * 
able  for  agricultural  development  and  which  for  other  kinds  of 
development.  Those  suitable  for  agricultural  development 
should  then  be  surveyed  with  regard  to  marketing  conditions, 
with  regard  to  labor  supply,  with  regard  to  the  financing  of 
such  agricultural  development  and  with  regard  to  every  other 
conceivable  problem  involved  in  developing  these  lands  for  agri- 
cultural purposes.  If  you  proceed  to  act  before  you  do  this, 
vou  are  riding  to  a  fall,  you  are  running  into  diflficulty  and  yon 
are  going  in  for  a  proposition  which  is  only  half  digested.  There- 
fore, the  first  step  is  to  make  a  definite  survey  of  the  situation 
to  determine  what  proportion  of  these  lands  are  good  for  agri- 
cultural purposes,  and  what  other  parts  are  adapted  to  stock- 


l.and  Survey 


30 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Varied  Adap- 
tability of 
Cut-Over 
Lands 


Forest  Fire 
Problem  Must 
Be  Solved 


Experiment 

Stations 

Needed 


raising  purposes  A  g-ood  deal  of  this  land  would  be  adapted  to 
raising-  sheep,  cattle  and  hogs,  which  would  not  be  at  all  adapted 
to  raising  cotton,  corn,  sugar  cane  or  soy  beans,  or  any  of  the 
other  grain  crops.  The  rest  of  the  land,  which  is  neither  adapted 
to  agriculture  in  the  shape  of  crops  or  agriculture  in  the  shape 
of  live  stock  development,  should  then  be  set  aside  as  a  permanent 
forest  area  and  a  permanent  forestry  policy  worked  out  through 
the  co-operation  of  the  Federal  Department  of  Agriculture,  or 
the  State  Forestry  Service,  and  the  owners  of  the  land. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  single  obstacle  to  a  proper  development 
of  any  of  these  lines  of  activity — agriculture,  live  stock  or  for- 
estry— is  the  forest  fire ;  the  forest  fire  not  only  destroys  a  lot  of 
forest  trees,  but  it  destroys  the  humus  in  the  soil  and  the 
plant  life  on  which  the  live  stock  subsist.  Until  you  have  worked 
out  a  policy  which  will  enable  us,  unitedly,  to  solve  the  problem 
of  forest  fires,  you  have  not  taken  your  first  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  cut-over  areas  of  this  or  any  other  region.  That  is  a 
problem  that  will  need  the  united  attack  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, the  state  government  and  the  private  owners  of  these  lands. 
When  once  you  solve  this  problem  and  make  your  surveys,  then 
we  are  ready  to  get  to  work  on  the  subdivisions  of  the  problem. 
Then  we  should  have  established,  in  all  the  different  sections 
where  these  lands  are  located,  experiment  stations  where  we  can 
experiment  on  solutions  for  all  the  problems  connected  with  the 
agricultural  and  live  stock  industries  in  these  regions.  At  the 
present  time  there  is  a  good  deal  that  you  do  not  know,  that  the 
state  bodies  do  not  know,  and  that  nobody  knows  with  regard 
to  these  problems.  We  have  not  yet  worked  out  all  the  problems 
connected  with  the  matter  of  grasses  on  which  to  raise  the 
live  stock.  We  have  not  worked  out  the  problems  connected 
with  the  proper  crops  to  be  grown  to  best  advantage  on  those 
parts  of  these  lands  which  are  agricultural  in  their  possibilities. 
We  have  not  yet  worked  on  these  problems  sufficiently  to  know 
what  method  of  reforestation  to  adopt.  If  you  were  to  take 
this  matter  up  with  our  Congressmen  and  Senators,  the  United 
States  Government  undoubtedly  would  be  willing  to  establish 
experiment  stations  in  the  different  sections  of  the  South  where 
all  these  problems  could  be  worked  out  until  a  proper  solution 
for  them  was  found. 

Now,  in  looking  at  this  problem  the  fundamental  principle 
involved  is  an  old  one,  and  an  old  one  that  is  today  receiving  a 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  31 

good  deal  more  emphasis  than  it  ever  received  in  the  past.  In 
the  past,  the  business  men  and  the  Government  did  not  always 
understand  each  other.  Business  men  felt  that  the  Government 
very  often  was  making  business  activity  on  their  part  unneces- 
sarily difficult.  The  Federal  Government,  on  the  other  hand, 
felt  that  it  was  only  meeting  certain  problems  which  had  to  be 
grappled  with  in  order  to  protect  the  innocent  investor.  But  we  Business  Men 
have,  during  the  past  year  or  two — and  today  it  is  more  evident   f^^d  Govern- 

than    ever — discovered   that    the   Government   and    the   business    ^^"      hettimj 

lOQ^thcr 
men  of  this  country  are  able  to  get  together  and  understand  each 

other.  (Applause.)  The  Government  is  asking  the  business 
men  to  put  their  cards  on  the  table  face  up.  and  on  that  basis 
we  are  getting  together  for  a  great  constructive  effort  to  build 
up  the  agricultural,  mineral  and  industrial  resources  of  this 
country 

Gentlemen,  this  country  has  a  greater  future  before  it  than 
any  of  us  realize.     I  suppose  the  publicity  men  working  on  these 
problems  think  that  thev  are  able  to  paint,  in  as  roseate  colors 
as  the   facts  will  warrant,   the   agricultural   possibilities   of  this 
region  :  but  allow  me  to  say  to  you  that  no  publicity  man  has  yet 
dreamed  of  the  extent  of  the  agricultural,  live  stock  and  forestry   Cut-Over 
possibilities  of  this  great  region.     We  have  only  just  scratched   ^f^^  Possi- 
the  surface   of  our  national   resources ;   and   if  we  will   all   pull     .  earned  Of 
together,  each  willing  to  give  a  square  deal  to  every  legitimate 
interest   involved,   these    resources   can   l)e    developed,    step   by 
step,  until  we  astonish  ourselves  by  the  riches  that  will  be  the 
outcome  of  our  united  efforts. 

All  this  was  true  about  two  weeks  ago.  Since  then  some- 
thing has  happened  which  has  changed  very  materially  the 
psychology  of  the  American  people.  We  are  now  in  a  state  of 
war.  Everything  we  could  have  said  ten  days  ago  about  this 
problem  we  can  now  say  with  a  thousand  per  cent  of  added  em- 
phasis. The  time  has  now  come  for  America  to  make  the  most  of 
her  resources  of  men,  of  land,  of  capital,  and  of  patriotism ;  if 
there  ever  was  a  time  when  we  should  all  put  our  cards  and 
chips  on  the  table  and  see  what  we  can  all  do  with  everything 
we  have,  in  order  to  strengthen  our  nation  in  this  international 
crisis,  this  is  the  hour.     (Applause.) 

I  don't  know  how  much  of  this  cut-over  land  is  adapted  to 
immediate  use  for  agricultural  or  live  stock  purposes.     We  hope 


32 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


War's  De- 
mands    Upon 
the  Southland 


England's 
Early  Mis- 
takes 


the  war  is  going  to  be  a  short  one ;  but  nobody  knows.  It  may 
drag  along  for  years.  Therefore,  let  us  have  two  programs — 
one,  our  immedia.te  and  emergency  program,  what  we  can  do 
this  week,  this  month,  this  year ;  and  the  other  a  permanent 
program  of  national  development  that  will  go  steadily  ahead 
during  all  the  years  to  come.  I  left  Washington  ten  days  ago ; 
stopping  at  Atlanta,  Memphis,  Little  Rock,  Shreveport,  and 
today  at  New  Orleans.  I  have  been  talking  to  the  people  at 
each  of  these  places  about  agricultural  preparedness,  or  about 
food  preparedness.  I  have  told  the  people  of  the  South  that  the 
Federal  Government  is  expecting  the  South  this  year  to  do  some- 
thing very  novel  to  the  South.  It  means  a  great  change  in 
the  methods  of  the  South.  The  Federal  Government  is  expecting 
the  South  this  year  to  feed  herself,  and  for  two  reasons:  First 
of  all,  because  if  the  South  does  not  feed  herself  the  South 
will  go  hungry  before  the  year  is  out.  We  are  not  asking  very 
much  of  the  South.  We  would  have  a  perfect  right  to  ask  the 
South  not  only  to  feed  herself,  but  to  contribute  her  quota  toward 
feeding  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  also  toward  feeding  our 
Allies  in  the  trenches  of  Europe  ;  but  we  are  not  asking  that ; 
we  are  not  asking  the  maximum — we  are  asking  the  minimum  : 
and  we  confidently  expect  the  South  to  respond  in  full  measure 
to  what  we  ask  of  her. 

When  the  war  was  started  in  Europe  most  of  the  countries 
there  thought  war  was  conducted  by  armies,  and  that  all  they 
had  to  do  to  win  was  to  get  a  lot  of  men  together,  train  them  to 
shoot  and  send  them  to  the  trenches.  England  was  the  slowest, 
but  finally  she  got  together  the  cream  of  her  young  manhood, 
the  most  self-sacriiicing,  the  most  patriotic,  the  best  men  of 
England,  and  they  went  over  to  France  and  Flanders  and  were 
mowed  down  as  with  a  scythe,  because  England  forgot  that  men 
can't  fight  successfully  against  superior  armam^ent,  that  courage 
does  not  take  the  place  of  cannon ;  and  so,  for  month  after 
month,  the  English  soldiers  stayed  in  the  trenches  and  were 
shot  to  pieces  because  Germany  had  cannon  which  shot  two 
or  three  miles  farther  than  theirs  did.  Then  England  set  to 
work  to  get  guns,  and  she  found  she  had  pounds  of  powder  where 
she  ought  to  have  had  tons.  She  then  set  to  work  and  created 
munition  factories  on  such  a  scale  that  today  they  manufacture 
more  arms  and  munitions  in  a  day  than  they  used  to  manufacture 
in  a  vear.     Then  thev  found  something  else  was  wrong.     The 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  33 

working  men  began  to  strike  all  over  England.  The  working 
men  said  the  capitalists  were  making  big  war  profits  and  yet 
their  wages  had  not  been  increased,  and  they  struck ;  and  Lloyd 
George  exhorted  them  and  begged  them  to  return  to  their  work 
from  patriotic  motives,  and  they  said,  "We  are  perfectly  willing 
to  work,  but  we  have  to  have  a  square  deal ;  if  our  masters  make 
huge  war  profits,  then  our  wages  must  go  up."  They  would  not 
budge  an  inch.  Finally,  the  workingmen  sent  word  to  the 
Prime  Minister  and  said:  "We  have  a  proposition;  our  masters 
say  we  are  disloyal,  we  are  slackers  and  shirkers ;  we  will  find 
out  who  is  the  slacker  and  the  shirker ;  now  we  will  not  only 
work  for  low  wages,  but  for  no  wages  at  all,  on  one  condition — 
that  the  capitalists  put  their  plants  and  coal  mines  and  rail- 
roads at  the  disposition  of  the  Government  as  we  offer  to  do 
our  labor,  without  remuneration."  Then  the  Government  called 
together  the  capitalists  and  the  workingmen  and  the  Govern- 
ment officials  and  had  a  conference ;  and  after  a  day  or  two  they 
worked  out  a  plan  which  guaranteed  to  capitalists  a  reasonable 
profit  on  their  investment  and  no  more,  and  to  workingmen  a 
reasonable  wage  that  would  take  care  of  them,  even  with  the 
prices  of  food  as  high  as  they  were,  and  no  more ;  and  on  this 
basis  they  harnessed  all  the  industrial,  agricultural  and  financial 
strength  of  England  in  the  great  war,  and  since  that  day  you 
have  seen  England  leaping  forward  like  a  powerful  automobile 
that  has  been  thrown  into  high — the  change  was  magical,  because 
from  that  moment  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  Great  Britain 
was  working  with  one  purpose  only — to  advance  the  cause  of 
their  common  country.  They  found  that  no  nation  is  prepared 
which  does  not  take  justice  out  of  the  Bible  and  out  of  the 
skies  and  out  of  the  hearts  of  jurists  and  judges  and  prophets 
and  bring  it  down  to  earth  and  write  it  into  the  laws  and  victory  or 
institutions  of  men.  (Applause.)  And  after  they  had  done  all  Defeat  De- 
that,  they  found  there  was  still  something  lacking.  They  found  pends  on 
what  Germany  had  found — and  France,  and  Italy,  and  even  Rus-  ^ood  Supplies 
sia — that  after  all,  an  army  travels  on  its  belly;  that  this  is  a 
war  not  between  armies  but  between  nations  and  combinations 
of  nations,  and  every  man,  woman  and  child  is  doing  his  bit 
to  help  his  country.  With  thirty  million  people  slowly  starv- 
ing in  Germany,  and  every  other  country  in  Europe  being  put 
on  war  rations,  they  found  that  the  war  is  going  to  be  determined 
not   b}'   the   nation   with   the  greatest   number   of  men    in   the 


34 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Food  and 
More  Food 
the  Cry  from 
Abroad 


The  South's 
Duty  to  the 
Nation 


trenches  and  the  greatest  quanj;ities  of  munitions  and  of  financial 
resources  available,  but  by  the  combination  of  nations  that  is 
able  to  feed  itself  the  longest.  Just  at  this  juncture  we  got  into 
the  war.  We  have  not  enough  soldiers  to  count  materially.  Our 
national  army  and  our  militia  will  not  be  large  enough  for  a  long 
time  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  on  any  one  of  half  a  dozen  battle 
fronts.  You  will  remember  that  when  Rumania  went  into  the 
war  she  had  750,000  soldiers,  but  instead  of  helping  her  allies 
her  entrance  strengthened  her  opponents.  It  is  millions  of  men 
that  count. 

We  will  probably  send  a  division  over  there  on  the  firing  line 
in  France  just  to  show  that  we  are  present  in  the  flesh  as  well 
as  in  the  spirit,  just  to  plant  the  Stars  and  Stripes  beside  the 
flags  of  our  Allies ;  just  to  show  that  this  country  has  not  for- 
gotten the  time  when  Lafayette  and  Rochambeau  came  to 
America  to  help  us  (applause)  ;  that  will  be  done  largely  for  its 
moral  effect.  The  chief  things  we  can  do  during  the  next  six 
months  will  be  to  finance  and  feed  the  troops  of  the  Allies.  We 
have  untold  wealth.  This  country  is  wealthier  than  all  the  com- 
bined nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  So  we  can  finance  our 
Allies  for  years  to  come.  But  that  is  not  the  most  immediate 
need.  They  now  need  food,  more  food  and  still  more  food,  be- 
cause every  country  in  Europe  has  been  tightening  its  belt  now 
for  some  time ;  and  if  the  submarine  warfare  had  succeeded  Eng- 
land would  have  been  brought  to  her  knees  within  three  months. 

The  South  produces  much  food,  but  she  imports  from  the 
North  and  West  nearly  half  a  billion  dollars  worth  of  food  and 
foodstuffs  every  year  in  excess  of  the  fruits,  vegetables,  cotton 
seed  products,  etc.,  which  she  exports  to  the  North.  \V^hen  we 
ask  you  to  produce  your  own  food  and  feed  yourself  we  are 
only  asking  you  to  release  that  much  food  and  foodstuffs  with 
which  to  feed  our  soldiers  in  the  field  and  our  Allies  in  the 
trenches.  Is  the  South  going  to  respond  to  this  call?  If  she 
doesn't,  it  is  the  first  call  of  duty  the  South  ever  ignored. 
(Applause.) 

Now  that  means  individual  sacrifice.  This  means  that  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  South,  without  a  single  exception, 
has  a  duty  to  perform;  the  children  to  put. in  gardens — I  don't 
mean  flower  gardens,  I  mean  vegetable  gardens  that  will  produce 
food  for  you  during  the  summer  months  and  enable  you  to  can 
and   dry   and   put   aside   food   for   the   winter   months.      If   you 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  35 

haven't  a  garden  larger  than  this  platform — it  will  be  valuable 
not  only  for  the  food  it  will  produce  but  for  what  it  typifies. 
This  flag  that  I  wear  on  my  breast  is  not  big,  but  it  represents 
everything  dearest  in  life  to  every  man,  woman  and  child  under 
its  folds,  and  when  you  have  put  in  one  little  bit  of  a  garden, 
it  stands  as  the  symbol  of  the  fact  that  you  stand  ready  to  do 
your  bit  for  your  country  in  this  great  national  crisis. 

And  then  the  planters  and  farmers  of  the  South ;  some  of 
them  have  gone  cotton  crazy ;  because  they  are  getting  22  cents 
a  pound  for  cotton  they  can  only  see  cotton.     Up  in  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  and  other  states  they  are  raising  tobacco.     It  may 
be  all  right  to  chew  tobacco,  but  it  isn't  going  to  feed  you  if  you 
have  to  chew  tobacco  and  spit  cotton  in  the  wintertime.     And 
then  our  transportation  systems — they  already  have  been  repeat- 
edly congested  in  times  of  peace ;  and  during  the  coming  months 
they  will  be  weighed  down  with  an  ever  increasing  military  re- 
sponsibility.    If  they  are  congested,  you  can't  get  food  through    "«Jq„^/,  ^^gf 
from  the  North;  and  then,  if  the  South  has  failed  to  raise  her   Raise  Her 
own   foodstuffs,   she   will   go   hungry.       So,    if    there    are    any   0am  Food  or 
cotton   planters  here   today,  or  if  you  know   any  cotton   plant-   ^^  Hungry" 
ers,  take  this  message  to  them  from  their  Government:   Any  man 
who  is  a  loyal  American  citizen  is  going  to  do  his  share  toward 
raising  the  food  crops  of  his  region  during  the  next  season,  and 
any  man  not  ready  to  do  that  is  not  worthy  to  be  protected  by 
the  flag  of  our  common  country.     (Applause.)     We  are  sending 
our  boys  to  the  front.     They  are  going  up  there,  perhaps,  to  be 
shot   to   pieces.      We   are    here    urging   them    to   be   brave   and 
patriotic,  and  vet  some  of  us  may  lag  behind  and  fail  to  do  the 
little  thing  we  are  asked  to  do — to  make  the  small  sacrifice  we 
are  asked  to  make.    I  know  it  is  not  easy  to  take  a  lot  of  tenants 
trained  to  raise  cotton  and  have  them  raise  corn,  or  soy  beans,         ,  "\,,.     _1  . 
or  sweet  potatoes.     I  am  a  landlord  myself.     But  this  is  not  a  ..»-.. 

Sunday-school  picnic.  "This  is  war;  and  we  are  not  asking  you    "War  A^o  Sun- 
alone  to  do  these  things^ — we  are  asking  everv  American  citizen    day-School 

*  '^  "'  •  Picnic 

to  take  up  the  most  difficult  task  and  do  it  gladly  for  his  country. 

If  we  will  do  that,  if  we  will  get  that  spirit  into  the  emergency 
work  of  the  next  few  months,  then  this  larger,  more  permanent 
work  of  development  of  agricultural,  live  stock  and  forestry 
resources  of  the  South  in  due  time  will  go  forward  with  giant 
strides.  We  need  the  right  spirit  in  this  work.  If  everybody 
becomes  imbued  with  that  spirit  then  the  future  development 
of  the  South's  resources  will  be  magical. 


36  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

There  are  a  great  many  other  things  that  may  be  said  along 
these  same  lines,  but  there  are  a  number  of  specialists  to  speak 
to  you  this  afternoon  on  these  other  topics,  and  therefore  I  will 
simply  thank  you  for  your  attention,  and  wish  you  success  in 
your  great  constructive  and  patriotic  task.    (Prolonged  applause.) 

The  Cut-Over  Land  Owner's 

Responsibility — His 

Opportunity 

By  Hon.  Clay  Tallman 

Commissioner,  General  Land  Office  United  States 
Department  of  the  Interior 

I  want  to  say  first  that  I  am  very  appreciative  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  come  here  and  contribute  a  little,  if  I  can,  to  the 
development  of  a  national  resource,  particularly  a  basic  resource 
like  the  land,  to  see  if  we  cannot  find  a  way  to  make  it  produce 
a  little  more  and  add  something  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  nation. 
At  the  outset,  I  should  say  that  so  far  as  the  public  land  in 
the  South  is  concerned,  for  the  purpose  of  this  discussion,  it  is 
altogether  negligible.  The  problems  we  are  working  on  every 
day  concern  the  lands  of  the  Western  states,  where  the  great  bulk 
of  the  remaining  public  lands  are ;  there  we  are  working  out 
South's  Prob-  problems  and  overcoming  obstacles  not  altogether  unlike  those 
lems  Not  Un-  you  have  here,  and  problems  in  which,  I  believe,  the  general 
'  ^  9^^  principles — the  controlling  principles — are  very  much  the  same. 
I  feel  in  a  way,  so  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  as  if  this 
program  is  a  little  bit  wrong  end  to ;  not  that  I  want  to  be 
critical,  but  just  because,  in  attacking  a  land  problem  of  this 
sort,  when  we  take  it  up  in  the  Western  states,  we  first  like 
to  learn  as  much  as  we  can  about  the  subject ;  we  want  to  know 
that  in  as  much  detail  as  possible ;  and  I  can  only  wish  that 
before  I  came  on  this  program  there  had  been  some  speakers 
— as  I  understand  there  will  be — who  had  already  given  us  the 
facts  more  in  detail  before  we  take  up  the  problem  with  a  view 
to  its  solution. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  37 

I  mig-ht  say  further  that  I  don't  want  to  appear  presump- 
tuous. I  realize  that  the  sort  of  problems  we  are  working  on 
are  in  a  different  part  of  the  country,  where  climate,  topography, 
soil  conditions  and  producing  conditions  are  very  much  dif- 
ferent. The  people,  it  has  been  my  experience,  are  just  about 
the  same  all  over  these  United  States ;  and  they  are  just  about 
equally  progressive  in  one  place  as  another ;  and  they  are  equally 
patriotic,  and  equally  anxious  to  respond  to  an  appeal  such  as 
Mr.  Vrooman  made  here  today. 

Moreover,  so  far  as  the  West  is  concerned,  there  is  no 
spirit  of  adverse  competition ;  they  want  you  to  do  the  very  Sectional 
best  you  can  here;  they  want  you  here  in  this  Southern  country  Jl^^^  ^ t  ^u„ 
to  make  the  best  and  most  of  these  resources  you  have ;  we  past 
feel  you  want  us  in  the  West  to  do  likewise,  because  we  know, 
even  from  a  selfish  standpoint,  that  the  more  you  can  raise  the 
more  money  you  can  make,  and  the  more  people  you  have  making 
a  good  living,  the  more  of  our  product  you  will  be  able  to  buy, 
and  the  better  we  do  the  more  of  your  products  we  will  be  able 
to  buy :  the  time  is  long  since  past  when  there  is  any  necessity 
for  a  spirit  of  destructive  competition  as  between  different  parts 
of  this  country.  I  talked  to  a  man  in  Virginia  the  other  day 
who  is  very  familiar  with  the  growth  and  development  of  that 
state,  and  he  told  me,  among  other  things,  that  there  were 
thousands  of  acres  of  formerly  cultivated  lands  in  Virginia  that 
had  been  permitted  to  grow  to  trees,  and  I  said  to  him,  "Why 
was  that?"  He  said,  "After  the  war  of  the  States  there  was  the 
great  Middle  W^est ;  and  we  couldn't  compete  with  the  country 
out  there  where  they  had  unlimited  cheap  and  fertile  lands." 
Those  conditions  have  passed,  as  I  will  attempt  to  show  you. 

Now,  speaking  in  a  general  way,  it  would  seem  to  me  that 
one  of  the  first  questions  that  presents  itself  is  whether  or  not 
there  is  anything  in  this  proposition  we  are  talking  about ; 
whether  our  efforts  must  result  in  failure,  as  regards  this  tract 
of  seventy  million  acres  now  lying  idle ;  are  we  dreaming  about 
an  impossible  thing,  or  have  we  a  practical  problem  on  which 
we  have  a  fair  chance  of  success?  To  me,  with  the  experience 
I  have  had  in  recent  years,  it  seems  very  strange,  it  seems 
almost  incomprehensible,  to  think  of  seventy  million  acres  of 
land  that  will  raise  anything  at  all,  lying  idle,  and  not  being 
made  to  produce  the  most  and  best  it  can. 


38  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

My  home  state — Nevada — is  probably  as  unlike  conditions 
that  exist  here  in  point  of  climate,  products  and  general  condi- 
tions that  we  have  to  deal  with  as  regards  crop  production,  as 
any  other  part  of  the  United  States.  I  have  traveled  all  over 
that  vast  area,  and  if  there  is  any  place  in  that  state,  in  the  most 
remote  place,  way  off  in  a  canyon,  50  or  100  miles  from  a 
railroad,  where  there  is  a  little  spring  that  will  produce  an  inch 
of  water  that  somebody  has  not  got,  and  that  somebody  is  not 
using  and  making  the  most  of,  I  don't  know  the  place,  and  I 
don't  know  anybody  else  who  does.  So  I  say,  it  is  strange  to 
me,  it  is  difficult  to  understand,  how  there  can  be  great  areas 
of  productive  land  here  that  are  not  being  used. 

Now,  as  a  preliminary,  sometimes  it  is  desirable,  in  grap- 
pling a  big  problem  like  this,  to  get  a  sort  of  comprehensive  view 
of  the  land  conditions  throughout  the  nation  as  a  whole,  to  sort 
of  get  a  line  on  the  trend  of  the  times,  as  it  were — ask  ourselves 
the  question,  where  do  we  stand  in  this  nation  as  a  whole  on  this 
question?  What  is  its  present  status?  Perhaps  a  reference, 
for  a  minute  or  two.  to  the  history  of  the  public  lands  of  the 
United  States  would  not  be  amiss. 

In  the  early  days  of  this  government.  Congress  looked  upon 
the  land  as  a  resource  merely  to  pay  debts  with,  merely  to  get 
monev  out  of ;  and  consequently  we  find  that  the  public  lands 
were  disposed  of  almost  exclusively,  until  the  year  1841,  on  an 
essentially  cash  sale  system  ;  millions  of  acres  were  disposed  of 
to  pay  debts.  Consequently,  the  government  offered  the  public 
lands  at  public  auction,  and  if  they  were  not  sold  at  public 
sales,  they  were  sold  at  private  sale  and  anybody  could  buy  all 
he  could  pay  for;  and  so  we  disposed  of  a  great  area  in  that 
way.  The  government  got  a  comparatively  small  amount  of 
money  out  of  it,  and  there  was  an  era  of  much  speculation  and 
comparatively  little  development ;  the  poor  man  with  only  his 
hands  didn't  have  a  chance.  They  never  asked  the  purchaser 
what  he  was  going  to  do  with  the  land — whether  he  would 
cultivate  it  or  what  he  intended  to  do  with  it. 
The  Fivt  That  system  went  on  until   1841,  and  then  public  thought 

Preemption       began  to  change  and  we  had  the  first  preemption  law,  a  little 
Laio  modification  of  the  cash  sale,  whereby  the  government  said,  "We 

will  sell  this  land  to  you,  and  if  you  will  live  on  it  and  make 
your  residence  on  it,  you  will  have  a  preference  right  for  a 
limited   time    in    which   to   buv   it."      It   was   a    modification   of 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


39 


the  cash  sale,  whereby  a  man  could  get  a  preference  right 
by  settlement.  Time  went  on,  and  in  the  year  1862,  in  the 
midst  of  the  war,  Congress  woke  up  to  the  proposition  that 
the  mere  money  we  were  getting  out  of  these  public  lands 
was  the  least  consideration ;  that  the  matter  of  cultivation,  de- 
velopment and  homebuilding  was  the  great  big  consideration 
that  we  should  look  to ;  and  from  1862  on,  you  will  notice,  in 
all  the  land  laws,  all  the  acts  of  Congress — that  the  controlling 
and  main  thought  has  been,  how  can  we  dispose  of  these  lands 
so  as  to  produce  the  most  homes  and  the  greatest  development 
and  use. 

And  so  there  was  never  any  one  act  of  Congress  which  so 
well  laid  the  foundation  for  the  development  of  the  Middle  West 
and  the  Far  West  as  the  Homestead  law.  We  had  disposed  of. 
roughly,  under  the  old  system,  of  from  80  to  100  million  acres. 
Under  the  Homestead  law  we  have  disposed  of  150  million  acres; 
and  under  the  Commuted  Homestead  law,  whereby  by  a  shorter 
residence  and  a  cash  payment  title  could  be  secured  to  the  land, 
we  disposed  of  50  million  acres  more.  The  operation  of  that 
legislation  has  swept  from  the  Mississippi  west  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  and  no  single  act  of  Congress  has  ever  been  more  con- 
ducive to  the  upbuilding  of  a  great  empire  than  that  legislation. 

The  Homestead  law  meant  homes,  cultivation  and  crop  rais- 
ing. Then  Congress  went  on  and  saw  the  transportation  prob- 
lem, and  said,  we  must  get  railroads  to  this  country  in  order  to 
get  the  homesteaders  there.  So  we  find  Congress  making  great 
railroad  grants  to  induce  the  building  of  railroads.  Probably 
nothing  in  the  way  of  land  legislation  has  ever  been  the  subject 
of  more  controversy  and  argument,  one  way  or  the  other,  than 
this  railroad  grant  proposition.  Congress  has  given  away,  as 
donations  to  railroads,  probably  160  million  acres.  Texas  gave 
away  25  million  acres  more.  One  thing  certain  the  rail- 
roads did  conduce  very  much  to  the  upbuilding  of  the 
country.  Whether  the}-  would  have  come  eventually  without 
the  grants,  or  if  so,  whether  they  would  have  come  soon  enough, 
is  a  mere  matter  of  speculation.  Two  years  ago,  when  the  ques- 
tion of  development  in  Alaska  was  up.  Congress  said,  we  will 
not  give  away  half  of  that  territory  to  get  railroads ;  we  will 
keep  the  land  and  give  it  to  settlers  and  build  the  railroad  with 
government  money,  carrying  that  controlling  principle  still 
further,  making  it  easier  and  more  attractive  and  desirable  for 


Homestead 
Act  Finally 
Solves 
Problem 


The     Govern- 
ment and 
Western  Rail- 
road Build- 
ing 


40 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Money  Get- 
ting vs.  Devel- 
opment 


The  Age  of 
Co-operation 


the  settlers  to  make  homes ;  knowing  that  the  more  developed 
farms,  the  more  resources  there  are  in  the  country,  the  better 
we  can  always  secure  the  necessary  revenues  to  support  the 
government. 

Therefore,  we  have  our  public  land  history  divided  into 
two  periods  I  have  sketched — first,  the  money  getting  period  ; 
next,  the  development  period.  A  few  years  ago  there  came 
in  still  another  period.  We  might  cair  it  the  conservation  or 
reservation  period.  Nobody  can  tell  exactly  when  it  started,  but 
it  nevertheless  did  start.  Nobody  can  state,  in  a  sentence,  what 
the  controlling  principle  of  this  period  is,  but,  in  a  general  way, 
this  last  period  revolves  around  this  thought :  that  we  have  been 
lax  in  the  enforcement  of  many  of  our  land  laws ;  that  we  have 
not  always  looked  carefully  to  the  best  use  of  all  these  resources ; 
that  we  have  permitted  our  land  laws  in  many  respects  to  be 
abused ;  that  we  have  permitted  certain  people  and  interests  to 
gain  a  monopoly  of  this  thing  or  that  thing;  and  so  we  had  vari- 
ous changes  in  the  matter  of  public  policy.  We  have,  through 
the  West,  probably  150  million  acres  that  have  been  put  into  for- 
est reserves.  We  have  the  Government  taking  up  and  spending 
money  for  reclamation.  We  have  a  price  put  on  our  coal  lands 
above  the  minimum ;  we  have  the  old  system  which  operated 
to  lock  up  the  coal  of  Alaska,  replaced  by  a  complete  leasing 
system ;  we  have  a  price  put  on  the  timber  lands  above  the 
minimum,  the  idea  being  to  make  the  land  free  and  easy  to  get 
always  for  the  man  who  will  develop  and  use  it  to  the  best 
advantage ;  but  if  it  is  a  straight  out-and-out  business  proposi- 
tion, and  does  not  involve  a  home  building  principle,  then  he 
should  pay  what  it  is  worth. 

I  think  we  are  gradually  growing  into  a  fourth  period.  I 
can  see  it  coming  in  many  ways.  Some  aspects  of  it  were  de- 
scribed by  Secretary  Vrooman  this  afternoon.  It  is  a  period  of 
co-operative  development  among  all  the  interests  involved.  It  is 
the  period  we  are  starting  in  on  now,  where  private  owners,  the 
states  and  the  Federal  government  will  pull  together  more  than 
they  have  ever  done  before  in  the  development  of  these  resources. 
And  never  before  in  our  country's  history  was  each  man's  private 
business  so  much  everybody's  business  as  it  is  now.  For  in- 
stance, we  give  a  charter  to  a  street  railroad  company  to  use 
the  streets,  and  we  impose  upon  the  grantee  of  that  right  various 
duties  and  obligations.     We  say  it  is  a  common  carrier.     Now 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era  41 

the  tendency  is  to  go  further  and  further  with  this.  The 
tendency  is  for  the  public  to  have  an  interest  in  everything 
going  on  all  over  this  country,  whether  commonly  called  private 
or  public.  For  instance,  the  public  will  say  you  have  70  million 
acres  of  good  land  lying  idle  here ;  you  won't  be  permitted  to 
leave  that  land  lying  idle  in  the  United  States  when  we  need  it 
to  produce  food  for  all  of  us,  particularly  at  a  time  when  the  per- 
petuation of  our  very  national  existence  may  depend  on  our 
ability  to  feed  ourselves  and  our  allies. 

Now,  what  is  the  purpose  of  all  this  talk  about  what  hap- 
pened fifty  years  ago,  forty  years  ago  and  now?  I  simply  want 
to  develop  this  proposition,  gentlemen:  that  the  time  has  come  ^//  Land 
when  every  acre  of  land  that  will  produce  anything  at  all  has  Has  a  Value 
some  value  and  should  be  put  to  use,  that  the  time  is  past 
when  fertile  lands  can  be  had  in  the  great  West  for  the  taking; 
the  great  bulk  of  those  lands  are  all  taken  and  yet  farm  products 
continued  to  rise  in  price  even  before  the  war.  If  these  seventy 
million  idle  acres  can  produce  anything,  the  trend  of  develop- 
ment and  increased  production  is  bound  to  swing  back  to  the 
South  and  East.  Take  the  cattle  business  as  an  illustration. 
Out  in  Arizona  or  New  Mexico,  where  it  takes  forty  acres  to 
keep  a  cow,  men  are  very  freely  paying  $1.25  to  $5.00  an  acre 
for  the  land,  and  they  are  glad  to  get  it.  We  sold  last  year 
44,000  acres  of  land  in  an  Indian  Reservation  in  California  at 
public  auction.  Anybody  could  buy  all  he  wanted.  It  was 
picked-over  land.  The  Indians  had  been  allotted  the  best  of  it, 
and  the  homesteaders  had  taken  what  they  wanted,  and  this  was 
the  tail  end.  It  was  appraised  at  $56,000,  and  we  sold  it  for 
$119,000.  Last  summer  we  opened  the  Colville  Indian  Reserva- 
tion in  Washington,  of  about  400,000  acres.  That  was  also 
remaining  land — after  the  Indians  had  been  allotted  the  best 
lands.  It  was  very  rough  and  much  of  it  very  dry.  We  held 
registrations  out  there  for  that  land,  and  we  had  90,000  applica- 
tions to  register  for  3.000  farms.  In  Dakota  a  year  and  a  half 
ago  we  had  1 10,000  acres  on  the  Standing  Rock  Indian  Reserva- 
tion that  was  appraised  at  from  $2.50  to  $8.00  an  acre,  subject 
to  the  Homestead  law.  A  man  could  get  only  so  much  of  it ;  he 
had  to  homestead  it  and  pay  the  price,  too.  We  had  30,000  ap- 
plications for  that  land,  and  they  took  every  acre  of  it.  This 
spring,  just  before  I  came  down,  I  signed  instructions  for  some 
land  we  appraised  two  years  ago  to  be  appraised  at  $2.00  more 


42  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

an  acre,  just  indicating  how  these  things  are  going  on.  In 
northern  Montana  we  have  an  Indian  reservation,  known  as 
Fort  Peck,  and  we  opened  there  three  years  ago  a  million  acres. 
That  had  been  picked  over  and  the  best  allotted  to  the  Indians. 
These  lands  were  appraised  at  $2.00  to  $7.00  per  acre,  and  Ave 
opened  them  to  homestead  entry  with  the  appraised  price  in 
addition.  At  that  time  there  were  other  lands  available,  and  only 
27,000  acres  were  taken  up  the  first  year;  but  the  next  year,  1915, 
71,000  acres  were  taken;  and  last  year  198,000  acres  were  taken 
up.  So  that  the  price  didn't  trouble  them.  The  demand  for 
land  on  which  they  can  raise  something,  on  which  they  can 
make  a  Hving  in  this  country,  is  pressing  and  urgent.  Just  one 
other  word  with  respect  to  Fort  Peck.  A  large  part  of  that 
land  was  classified  as  coal,  and  a  lot  of  fellows  wanted  that  land 
so  badly  they  paid  for  coal  filings  on  it  at  $10  and  $20  an  acre. 

Now,  the  United  States  Reclamation  Service  is  another  in- 
stance of  this  new  era  of  interrelation  between  public  and  private 
business.  The  government  has  now  expended  probably  120  mil- 
$120,000,000  lion  dollars  in  building  reclamation  projects  for  arid  lands.  The 
Spent  to  ^  ^  ^.Qs,t  of  reclamation  is  spread  over  the  land  reclaimed.  The 
people  buy  the  water  rights,  and  they  must  pay  annual  install- 
ments, under  a  recent  law,  covering  a  period  of  twenty  years,  for 
the  total  cost.  What  is  that  cost?  All  throughout  the  Western 
states  you  will  find  people  willingly  and  gladly  paying  anywhere 
from  $30  to  $1C0  an  acre  just  for  the  water  alone,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  cost  of  reclaiming  the  land  ;  and  leveling  it  and  getting 
it  readv  for  crops  which  may  run  up  to  $50  an  acre  more. 

I  am  saying  these  things  to  you  just  t0|  point  out  a  little  of 
what  is  going  on  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  just  to  show 
the  demand  for  farm  land  under  conditions  such  that  a  poor 
man  can  work  out  a  home. 

It  was  mentioned  by  a  gentleman  here  today  that  if  you 
don't  give  a  man  enough  land  to  make  a  living  on,  he  is  going 
to  make  a  failure.  Congress  saw  that  proposition.  Back  in 
1909  Congress  saw  that  there  were  large  areas  in  the  Western 
country  now  known  as  the  so-called  dry-farming  region.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  there  are  great  areas  in  Montana, 
Washington,  Idaho  and  Colorado  where  crops,  particularly  grain 
crops,  can  be  raised  successfully,  where  they  couldn't  raise  any- 
thing and  didn't  raise  anything  twenty  years  ago;  the  idea  is 
to  crop  the  land  alternate  years  so  as  to  put  two  years'  moisture 


Reclaim   Arid 
Lands 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  43 

into  one  year's  crop.  Congress  said  this  is  extensive  farming 
instead  of  intensive.  To  enable  these  men  to  make  a  go  of  it 
we  must  give  them  more  land.  Consequently,  they  gave  us  the 
Enlarged  Homestead  act,  giving  320  instead  of  160  acres  of 
desert  land.  Millions  of  acres  have  been  taken  up  under  that 
act.  You  go  out  on  the  Great  Northern  across  Montana,  or 
on  the  Northern  Pacific,  or  on  the  Oregon  Short  Line  up  through 
southern  Idaho,  and  you  will  find  thousands  of  acres  there  to- 
day covered  with  wheat  crops,  and  threshing  machines  and 
self-binders,  and  little  towns  and  elevators.  They  are  making 
land  which  was  only  worth  5  cents  an  acre  per  year  as  a  grazing  Five-Cent- 
proposition  bring  in  from  $5  to  $10  an  acre  or  more  per  year.  ^^  ?^^.  ^ 
Later  on  Congress  said,  this  dry  farming  land  is  about  all  gone;  j..^^^  Yeaiiu 
all  that  we  have  left  is  rough  land  ;  much  of  it  stands  straight 
up.  Here  is  a  grazing  proposition,  that  land  cannot  grow  crops. 
Consequently,  in  December  last,  another  homestead  law  was 
passed  known  as  the  Grazing  Homestead  law,  giving  the  entry- 
man  640  acres  of  designated  grazing  land,  and  since  December 
29,  1916,  there  have  been  45.000  applications  covering  18  million 
acres  of  that  land.  I  call  your  attention  to  this  as  showing  how 
the  people  out  \\'est  are  now  going  after  the  grazing  proposition 
where  there  is  a  chance  for  a  poor  man  to  get  a  little  ranch 
of  his  own. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Western 
open  range  is  carrying  every  head  of  stock  it  is  capable  of 
carrying. 

Now,  doesn't  it  stand  to  reason,  if  we  have  any  land  at  all 

left  back  here  in  the  South,  say  70  million  acres,  or  any  other 

number  of  acres,  it  is  up  to  you  to  get  busy?     Won't  it  raise 

something?      I   don't    know   how   good    it   is.      It   may   be   half 

swamp,  or  very  low  grade,  or  sandy,  but  it  cannot  be  any  less   South     Offers 

productive  per  acre  than  millions  of  acres  of  land  in  the  West    Only  Cheap 

out  of  which  tremendous  amounts  of  money  are  being  realized    ,   "  ^     ^'^ 

Left  in. 
today.    I  think  that  if  you  will  take  a  broad  comprehensive  view    c.oimtrij 

of  the  land  situation  of  the  country  you  will  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  is  no  question  of  doubt  that  you  can  success- 
fully compete  on  this  land  with  the  rest  of  the  country ;  in  fact 
the  matter  of  food  production  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  longer 
in  the  competitive  stage ;  it  is  rather  a  question  of  getting  enough. 
While  in  the  new  development  of  the  raw  land  it  is  always 
best  to  have  cattle  and  sheep  first,  I  want  to  say  to  you  that 


44  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

wherever   anybody   can    make   a   decent   living,   the   proper   and 

Small    Farms   desirable  thing  to  do  is  to  get  people  on  your  land  and  cut  it 

Best  Where  . 

Practicable        "P  ^"^"^  small  farms,  as  many  as  you  can,  making  self-sustaining 

and  self-owned  homes.     (Applause.) 

We  have  had  a  great  fight  during  the  last  few  months  be- 
tween the  stockmen  and  the  homesteaders ;  between  those  who 
were  for  and  against  the  640  acre  grazing  homestead  law.  The 
cattle  men,  almost  to  a  unit,  opposed  it.  But  the  other  fellow, 
who  stood  for  the  homestead  law,  and  who  proved  to  be  in  the 
majority,  contended  that  whenever  we  have  been  able  to  get 
people  on  the  land  we  have  gotten  more  cattle  from  it  than 
before,  and  a  lot  more  things  besides,  and  the  settlers  have 
made  a  living  and  built  towns  and  schools. 

Those  of  you  who  have  been  to  Colorado  know  that  across 

that  great  eastern  portion,  for  many  miles  back  of  the  Kansas 

Little  of  li"^'  is  a  great  area  of  rolling  plains.    Twenty  years  ago,  when  I 

Western  Cow   used  to  go  across  there,  it  was  nothing  but  a  cow  country.     One 

Country  Left    would  see  scarcely  a  habitation  or  town.     You  go  across  there 

now  and  you  will  find  that  as  a  result  of  this  320-acre  homestead 

law  that  whole  country  is  settled,  and  that  country  is  producing 

more  meat  than  it  ever  did  before. 

I  was  talking  to  a  Congressman  who  told  me  of  a  valley 
which  a  cattle  company  had  completely  controlled  for  years, 
and  when  the  320-acre  homestead  law  came  in  it  drove  the 
cattle  company  out,  and  now  that  valley  is  producing  much  more 
cattle  than  the  cattle  company  produced,  and  crops  of  grain 
besides. 

Now,  my  friends,  we  have  heard  considerable  here  today 
about  various  settlement  and  colonization  schemes ;  while  I  agree 
with  much  that  has  been  said,  I  want  to  say  as  a  general  thought 
that  if  you  will  demonstrate  the  possibilities  of  these  lands  and 
show  their  usefulness  and  practicability  for  home  building  pur- 
poses under  conditions  such  that  a  man  can  bring  up  and  educate 
his  children  under  modern  conditions,  and  you  will  sell  the  lands 
at  prices  and  on  terms  such  that  an  industrious  man  can  pay 
out,  you  will  not  have  to  resort  to  any  colonization  schemes ; 
you  can't  keep  the  settlers  out. 

Now,  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way,  invariably  in  the  West, 
is  the  speculator.  Invariably  he  wants  to  get  in  between  the 
large  land   proposition  and  the   man   who  ultimately   cultivates 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  45 


it,  and  drag  down  all  the  profit.     I  want  to   say  that  on  this 
70,000,000  acres,  or  any  part  of  it,  if  you  are  taking-  a  broad- 
minded,  patriotic  view  of  the  situation  and  not  a  very  narrow    Conservative 
or  short-sighted  one,  don't  put  any  proposition  up  to  the  settler   Development 
that  you  are  not  morally  certain  he  can  make  a  success  of  if  he   Metliods  Best 
will   work ;   because   his   failure   is   ultimately   bound   to   be   the 
failure  of  the  community  and  the  state. 

Now,  in  closing-,  I  am  going-  to  venture  a  suggestion.  This 
is  private  land,  for  the  most  part.  I  expect  it  is  largely  owned 
by  the  timber  companies  who  cut  it  off.  What  are  you  going 
to  do  with  it?  It  was  said  that  if  it  was  Government  land  the 
Government  could  handle  it  like  the  forest  reserves  are  handled. 
As  I  said,  this  is  private  land.  You  can  do  more  with  private 
land  than  with  Government  land,  because  you  are  free  to  do 
with  it  just  exactly  as  you  please,  not  hindered  by  law,  or  super- 
visory authority.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  I  were  the  owner  of  any 
considerable  block  of  this  land  I  would  first  have  it  very  care- 
fully cruised  and  examined  by  the  best  expert  I  could  get ; 
I  would  have  him  go  over  this  land  with  a  fine  tooth  comb  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  as  nearly  as  possible  just  exactly 
what  tlie  land  is  best  adapted  to  and  what  it  needs  in  the  way 
of  improvement  or  building  up.  I  would  then,  with  the  advice  of  Suaqestions 
experts,  lay  out  a  plan  of  jjrocedure  and  then  go  to  work,  on  for  Cut-Over 
a  small  scale  at  first,  to  demonstrate  fully  and  conclusively  just  Land  Owners. 
what  could  be  done  with  the  land.  When  you  are  successful 
in  this  demonstration  then  you  have  reached  a  point  where  you 
can  offer  some  of  this  land  to  the  public.  Wherever  possible 
the  sale  should  be  made  direct  to  the  settler  without  any  inter- 
vening selling  agency  and  consequent  added  expense.  The  sale 
should  be  at  rock  bottom  prices,  on  easy  terms,  with  little  to  pay 
to  begin  with,  except  to  demonstrate  good  faith,  the  balance 
being  extended  over,  as  long  a  time  as  possible,  on  as  low  a 
rate  of  interest  as  is  c(msistent  with  good  business,  and  the 
sale  should  be  on  condition  that  the  buyer  will  reclaim  and 
cultivate  or  otherwise  make  good  use  of  the  land.  You  should 
sell  him  just  as  much  as  he  will  reclaim,  cultivate  and  use,  and 
not  more.  Effort  should  be  made  to  sell  adjoining  and  con- 
tiguous lands  to  other  settlers  to  the  end  that  a  neighborly  com- 
munity may  be  established  which  will  thereby  be  able  to  build 
up  its  towns,  schools  and  marketing  facilities  by  joint  effort. 
Every    reasonable    assistance    should    be    given    the    good    faith 


46  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

settler  to  help  him  get  started.  This  matter  of  building  up  an 
agreeable  community  life  is  by  no  means  the  least  important  in 
this  connection.  In  this  manner  I  believe  you  will  be  able  in 
the  long  run  not  only  to  realize  a  fair  price  for  the  land,  but 
you  would  be  contributing  a  great  thing  to  the  upbuilding  of  the 
state  and  the  United  States. 

Gentlemen,  the  leading  thought  I  have  tried  to  leave  with 
you  this  afternoon  is  that  it  seems  to  me  that  we  have  passed 
the  point,  we  have  answered  the  question  of  whether  or  not 
the  proposition  you  have  presented  to  you  here  is  worth  while. 
I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it. 


Lumbermen's  Activities, 
Past,  Present  and  Future 

By  J.  Lewis  Thompson 

I  have  been  requested  to  tell  you  a  little  something  about 
what  we  have  done  ourselves  in  development,  what  progress 
we  are  making  in  our  cut-over  land's.  I  can't  say  it  in  any  boast- 
ful spirit,  because  I  have  fought  the  opposition  of  our  stock- 
holders, and  I  have  spent  money  which  is  considerable  for  us, 
and  it  has  been  spent  just  because  I  took  the  bull  by  the  horns 
and  went  ahead  with  it.  Some  of  our  stockholders  think  I  know 
naught  of  what  I  am  doing,  and  the  future  may  answer  that 
question ;  but  for  the  present  we  have  done  this :  We  have 
already  fenced  60,000  acres.  In  that  60,000  acres  we  have  some 
10,000  Acres  six  pastures.  We  have  five  different  ranches.  In  these  differ- 
o  e  Fasture  ^^^  pastures  we  are  using  native  cattle  as  far  as  we  can — getting 
in  good  bulls.  On  one  of  our  ranches  we  have  a  registered  herd 
of  Herefords  with  which  we  propose  to  raise  our  Hereford 
bulls,  and  on  another  ranch  the  Shorthorns.  We  have  been 
going  at  the  thing  in  a  systematic  way,  but  we  have  been 
groping  a  little  bit  in  the  dark.  Last  year  we  had  300  acres 
in  cultivation.  We  built  thirteen  100-ton  silos,  with  sorghum 
silage.  We  find  that  sorghum  gives  twice  as  much  ensilage 
per  acre  as  corn  does.  We  may  not  know  how  to  take  care 
of  the  corn,  but  we  have  found  that  sorghum  produces  twelve 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


47 


to  twenty  tons  of  ensilage  per  acre.  This  year  we  have  a 
hundred  acres  in  peanuts ;  we  have  forty  acres  in  sweet  pota- 
toes ;  and  we  have  about  300  acres  in  sorghum,  and  we  propose 
to  build  twenty-five  silos  this  year.  We  figure  a  ton  of  ensilage 
will  carry  the  cattle  you  have  to  feed — will  carry  one  head 
through  the  winter — and  puts  them  on  the  grass  in  the  spring 
in  fine  condition,  so  that  they  start  right  off  to  growing.  We 
have  the  only  dipping  vat  in  the  two  counties  we  are  located  in. 

The  question,  "What  part  is  the  lumberman  to  play  in  the 
upbuilding  of  the  Southland  through  the  proper  development 
and  use  of  the  vast  areas  of  cut-over  lands  that  are  as  yet 
largely  unused?"  is  one  that  every  timber  and  timber  land  owner 
has  a  right  to  be  interested  in,  and  is,  I  trust. 

The  lumber  industry  of  the  South  came  to  life  after  the 
Civil  War.     Previous   to  that  great   war  the  South   was  given 
over  almost  entirely  to  the  production  of  cotton.     It  was  a  land 
about  equally  divided  between  aristocrats  and  poor  whites,  with    /7q^/„  Daus  of 
the  negroes  for  the  laboring  class.     In  those  days  the  lumber   Lumbering  in 
production  of  the  country  came  from  the  North,  but  as  the  price   the  Sonth 
of  stumpage  and  the  value  of  lumber  advanced  in  the  Northern 
territories,  the  lumber  folks  naturally  began  to  seek  other  and 
newer  forests  and  the  South  came  in  for  a  large  share  of  their 
attention. 

Then  l^egan  the  development  of  the  forests  of  the  South. 
What  this  development  has  amounted  to,  and  what  the  lumber 
industry   means  to   the   South   today,   is   a  matter  of  fact  with 
which  we  are  all  familiar.     He  is  the  largest  employer  of  the 
South — a  great  community  builder— and  a  leading  spirit  in  his   Lumberman 
locality.      The   lumberman   is   essentially   a   pioneer.     He   seeks   Blazes  the 
new  forests  when  his  old  ones  have  been  cut  away,  and  he  builds    Way  for 
up  and  develops  the  territory  in  which  he  chooses  to  locate.    Be- 
hind the  lumberman  come  farms,  schools,  villages  and  eventually 
cities.     Whenever  you  find  him,  you  find  a  constructive  worker, 
and  a  natural  builder. 

As  an  individual,  the  lumberman  stands  high  among  the 
industrial  people  of  the  land.  As  a  citizen  he  is  known  always 
for  his  activity,  his  progress  and  his  generosity. 

As  an  industry,  there  is  much  for  the  lumber  folks  to  do — a 
world  of  needful  work  that  must  be  done — and  a  great  field  of 
undeveloped  opportunity  that  stretches  out  before  him  in  every 
direction.     The   opportunities   that   present   themselves    to   the 


Civilization 


48 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


"Cut-Over 
Lands  Could 
Feed  the 
Nation" 


Combining    a 
Patriotic 
Duty  and 
Profitable  In- 
vestment 


lumbermen  of  the  future  are  greater  even  than  those  that  pre- 
sented themselves  in  the  past. 

The  lumbermen  of  the  Southland  are  the  owners  of  enough 
land  at  present  barren  to  build  a  new  world.  They  have  in  their 
possession  the  potential  makings  of  a  veritable  empire,  it  is  their 
privilege,  if  they  will  grasp  it,  to  carry  out  a  great  work  for  the 
development  and  upbuildings  of  the  entire  South.  There  is 
enough  cut-over  timber  land  in  the  hands  of  the  lumbermen  of 
the  South  today  to  feed  this  entire  nation,  if  properly  cleared, 
fertilized,  cultivated  and  farmed.  The  possibilities  of  this  land 
for  farming  and  growing  purposes  has  no  reasonable  limit.  It 
is  the  most  fruitful  soil  within  the  limits  of  the  continent.  It 
will  raise  anything  and  everything,  within  reasonable  limits. 

The  lumbermen  have  the  ability  to  handle  the  problem  of 
handling  and  developing  the  cut-over  lands  of  the  South.  They 
can  do  so  with  commercial  success,  because  properly  handled, 
there  is  money  to  be  made  in  the  work.  The  argument  that  has 
long  been  advanced  against  the  lumber  manufacturer  doing  any- 
ing  specific  with  his  cut-over  lands  was  that  no  decent  return 
could  be  made  on  the  investment  and  he  was  not  in  position  to 
develop  this  land  out  of  charity. 

The  demand  for  better  soil  and  newer  farming  districts  has 
gradually  increased  the  values  of  the  Southern  land  that  once 
grew  forests,  and  today  it  is  a  possibility  for  men  to  take  this 
cut-over  land  and  make  a  success  of  developing  and  selling  it 
for  farming  purposes.  This  is  a  proposition  in  itself  that  re- 
quires specific  handling,  and  the  great  trouble  with  the  mill  man 
has  always  been  that  he  was  so  busy  running  his  mill  that  he 
could  not  and  would  not  divide  his  attention. 

He  can,  however,  in  the  future  co-operate  in  the  work  that 
is  proposed  for  developing  these  lands,  and  raay  do  much  with- 
out actually  giving  all  his  personal  attention  to  the  matter.  I 
believe  that  he  will  not  be  slow  in  manifesting  his  willingness 
and  ability  to  co-operate  in  the  great  work  that  means  at  one 
and  the  same  time  an  excellent  investment  financially  and  a  great 
work  for  the  future.  There  are,  therefore,  both  financial  and 
sentimental  reasons  why  the  lumber  manufacturers  should  start 
now  to  develop  this  great  heritage  of  potential  wealth  that  Prov- 
idence has  bestowed  upon  them. 

There  have  been  times,  I  admit,  when  many  of  us  have 
seriously  questioned  whether  this  Providential  bestowal  was  in 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  49 

the  nature  of  a  gracious  gift,  or  a  full-grown   millstone  to  be  y^/„^  ^t  Q^^f__ 

carried  around  our  necks.     That  time  has  passed,  however,  and  Over  Lands 

there  are  few  of  us  today  who  do  not  appreciate  the  value  of  Beginning    to 

these  cut-over  lands,  and  have  not  some  general  idea  of  their  ^^  Eecog- 

future  importance.  '^'^^ 

In  the  past  the  lumberman  has  accepted  his  various  trusts 
and  handled  them  well.  I  know  that  he  will  do  so  in  this  case. 
He  came  to  the  South,  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  forests  for 
the  future,  bought  and  developed  same  on  his  own  initiative  and 
without  outside  financial  assistance  built  his  plants  and  his  rail- 
roads, developed  the  country,  acted  as  home  builder  to  the  nation, 
solved  his  industrial,  commercial  and  labor  problems,  and  did 
much  to  develop  the  South  from  a  strictly  cotton  country  to  a 
great  industrial  part  of  the  commonwealth. 

He  is  able  to  do  much  with  this  heritage  of  undeveloped 
cut-over  lands,  which  is  not  really  unlike  the  wealth  of  forests  of 
the  South,  when  he  first  encountered  them.     Cut-over  land  today 
is  fully  as  valuable  a  present  asset  as  were  the  great  forests  of   /^^^^^    Worth 
the  South  when  the  lumberman  first  invaded  them.     The  future   ^s  Much  as 
possibilities  of  the  land  are  easily  as  great  as  the  possibilities  of   Original 
the  forest  ha^■e  proven  to  be.     An  investment  in  these  lands  to-   Forests 
day  can  be  reasonably  expected  to  be  a  better  investment  than 
an  investment  in  pine  timber  in  Louisiana  or  Texas  would  have 
been  fifty  years  ago. 

The  ownership  of  the  great  cut-over  lands  of  the  South  is 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  lumbermen.  A  great  trust  has  been 
thrust  upon  them.  The  question  of  what  shall  be  done  with  these 
vast  holdings  is  one  that  has  been  growing  louder  and  more 
insistent  with  every  year  that  passes.  It  is  really  a  mighty 
heritage — one  that  may  be  developed  into  boundless  possibilities. 
The  possibilities  are  limited  only  by  the  efforts  that  will  be 
made  in  this  direction. 

In  the  days  to  come,  when  history  of  the  South  is  written, 
will  the  lumberman  be  able  to  lift  his  head  and  report  that  he 
has  accepted  his  heritage  and  developed  it  as  commanded  us  in   Lumbermen 
the  parable  of  the  ten  talents,  or  will  he  be  kept  side-stepping,    Will  Measure 
trying  to  find  an  alibi  and  explain  why  he  did  not  do  so?    That    ^P  '^.    .*  ,' 
question  is  soon  to  be  settled,  but  with  the  faith  that  I  have  in  the   ^P^^^^ 
ever-readiness  of  the   followers   of  the  lumber  industry  to   do 
their  part,  I  know  that  the  record  will  be  kept  straight,  and 


50 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


that  when  the  time  for  writing  this  history  comes,  the  lumber 
folks  will  find  their  credit  side  of  the  ledger  to  be  well  filled. 

They  will  develop  these  cut-over  lands ;  they  will  assist  in 
the  tilling  of  the  soil ;  they  will  develop  and  build  up  great  com- 
munities where  their  forests  once  stood ;  they  will  encourage  and 
make  possible  scientific  farming;  they  will  send  their  children 
to  agricultural  schools,  where  they  will  learn  the  great  lessons 
of  proper  use  of  the  soil ;  they  will  lay  a  great  foundation  for 
their  children  and  their  children's  children,  to  assist  them  in 
carrying  on  the  work  of  making  this  Southland  the  Great  Gar- 
den Spot  of  America. 


Farms  and 
Railroads   In- 
terdependent 


The   Railroads'   Part   in  the 
South's  Development 

By  J.  C.  Clair 

Industrial    Commissioner  of  the  Illinois  Central 

Railroad 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen : — I  was  invited  to  attend  this 
Conference,  but  was  not  told  I  would  be  called  upon  to  make  any 
remarks.  It  was  a  pleasure,  however,  to  come  down  here  to 
meet  with  you,  and  in  looking  over  your  work  and  appreciating 
it  from  all  angles  I  only  regret  that  real  transportation  men  are 
not  on  the  program.  If  there  is  any  time  in  the  history  of  this 
country  when  the  two  greatest  and  foremost  industries  of  the 
world  are  to  be  appreciated  and  should  be  appreciated,  it  is  at 
this  time — agriculture  and  transportation — they  go  hand  in  hand, 
one  with  the  other. 

It  certainly  was  inspiring  to  listen  to  that  gentleman,  the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  this  afternoon ;  as  well  as 
to  the  other  men  who  followed  and  preceded  him.  I  deem  this 
one  of  the  most  important  conventions  upon  one  of  the  most 
important  subjects  that  has  come  before  the  Southern  people — 
in  fact,  the  nation  as  a  whole — and  I  am  glad  to  be  here  this 
afternoon  and  speak  for  four  or  five  minutes. 

We  should  enter  into  this  matter  in  the  spirit  of  real  co- 
operation, as  partners,  and  we  can  learn  much  from  each  other. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  51 

The  Illinois  Central  railroad,  appreciating  the  Department  of 
Ag-riculture  at  Washington,  the  administration  field  work  of  that 
department ;  the  agricultural  colleges  of  the  various  states 
through  which  our  lines  traverse,  took  it  upon  themselves,  a  few 
years  ago,  to  co-operate  with  those  agencies  to  the  best  of  their 
ability. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Markham,  president  of  our  road,  is  vitally  inter- 
ested in  your  development  work.  He  made  his  mark,  years  ago, 
on  the  Southern  Pacific  in  this  work ;  and  it  is  not  many  years 
since  he  was  only  a  station  agent ;  but  through  his  activities, 
and  what  he  was  able  to  bring  about  with  the  various  adminis- 
trations interested  in  development  work,  he  is  today  President 
of  one  of  the  largest  corporations  of  transportation  in  this 
country. 

He  directed  me  to  look  over  the  Southern  Mississippi  Valley 
to  ascertain  what  further  could  be  carried  on — what  should  be 
done  at  once. 

-  I  went  over  the  State  of  Mississippi  in  the  interests  of  the 
creamery  business,  feeling  that  that  great  state  should  make  its 
own  butter.  I  discovered  there  were  two  creameries  in  the 
state  two  years  ago  last  fall — one  carried  along  on  the  Mobile  & 
Ohio,  and  a  small  one  at  Brookhaven,  on  the  Illinois  Central,  a 
failure  for  very  good  reasons.  I  do  not  desire,  however,  to  over- 
look the  Creamery  Co-operative  Dairy  College,  at  Starkville, 
Mississippi,  which,  of  course,  was  a  success — a  demonstration  to 
the  people  of  that  state  who  wished  to  consider  the  dairy  business. 
It  was  my  recommendation  that  all  communities  served  bv  the  ^ 
Illinois  Central,  where  they  would  guarantee  sufficient  cows  or  Development 
butter  fat,  construct  a  proper  building  in  an  up-to-date  way,  that  in  Mississippi 
our  company  furnish  the  business  manager,  at  our  expense,  for 
one  year ;  realizing,  that  in  a  year's  time,  such  a  man  could  picture 
to  the  farmer  the  importance  of  getting  a  good  milk  cow,  explain 
to  him  the  separator,  explain  about  utilizing  the  natural  fertilizer, 
etc.  Several  of  those  co-operative  creameries  are  under  way, 
after  two  years,  and  all  are  a  success.  At  this  time,  together  with 
those  who  have  taken  the  work  up  in  a  private  way,  there  are 
seventeen  creameries  in  Mississippi.  I  sincerely  hope  that  the 
state  will  call  upon  the  Illinois  Central  within  the  next  twelve 
months  for  sixteen  more  creameries  managers.  We  will  be  pleased 
to  furnish  them  at  our  expense. 


52 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Practical    Co- 
operation 
With  the 
Farmer 


New  Blood 
Important    in 
Cattle  Raising 


In  taking  the  schools  to  the  farms  we  have  32  demonstration 
farms  in  the  Southern  Mississippi  Valley.  This  last  year  we  dis- 
tributed 90  pure  bred  sires  in  Southern  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee and  Mississippi  in  the  interest  of  improved  live  stock, 
both  beef  and  dairy  types,  Angus,  Shorthorns,  Herefords, 
Guernseys,  Jerseys  and  Holsteins. 

Now,  gentlemen,  in  this  work  of  activity  and  co-operation, 
we  find  it  is  useless  to  hand  something  to  somebody  on  a  gold 
platter.  The  Lord  helps  those  who  help  themselves,  and  that  is 
the  truth.  In  order  to  encourage  the  dairy  business  in  the  South- 
ern Mississippi  Valley — and  by  the  way,  in  the  presentation  of 
those  sires  we  would  not,  of  course,  allow  one  of  those  fine  bulls 
to  go  into  a  tick-infested  county — we  think  too  much  of  the  live 
stock;  I  speak  here  only  of  Mississippi,  because  there  is  no 
parish  traversed  by  our  line  in  Louisiana  that  is  yet  free  from 
the  cattle  tick,  and  I  regret  that.  Dr.  Dalrymple,  however,  tells 
me  that  two  or  three  of  the  parishes  will  be  free  in  a  few  months, 
and  when  that  time  comes  the  Illinois  Central  will  be  right  here 
with  the  bulls  to  co-operate  with  you,  too;  that  is,  if  you  want  us. to. 

Now,  again  speaking  of  those  who  should  help  themselves. 
We  have  pictured  the  importance  of  the  dairy  cow  and  the  dairy 
business.  By  this  time  we  realize  that  live  stock  is  its  most  im- 
portant division.  That  brings  the  first  cash,  then  the  hog  and 
the  poultry,  and  following  with  the  steer  and  sheep.  I  am  glad 
sheep  has  been  mentioned  here  today,  because  we  know  that 
animal  should  be  on  those  lands  in  great  numbers  in  this  part  of 
the  country. 

This  matter  of  education,  gentlemen,  you  observe,  changes 
everything;  and  right  here,  gentlemen,  don't  think  for  a  mo- 
ment that  I  make  any  reflection  upon  the  people  of  this  terri- 
tory. I  want  rather  to  congratulate  the  people  on  the  progress 
they  have  made  in  the  last  three  or  four  years,  and  that,  now 
you  have  a  compulsory  law,  that  by  1918  the  cattle  tick  will  be 
a  thing  of  the  past,  is  something  that  you  are  to  be  congratulated 
upon.  (Applause.)  Any  community  on  our  lines,  from  Southern 
Illinois  to  Louisiana,  where  they  will  organize  the  bankers  and 
business  men  and  have  the  farmers  purchase  dairy  cows  from  out- 
side the  state,  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  will  furnish  the  sires. 
That  is  helping  those  who  help  themselves.  I  say  from  outside 
the  state.  I  don't  think  it  is  along  the  lines  of  progress  for  Tan- 
gipahoa Parish  to  sell  cattle  to  West  Feliciana.     I  do  think  it 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  53 

is  important  to  bring  in  good  cows  from  the  outside  of  your 
state.  I  assure  you  that  we  will  not  purchase  a  bull  from  any 
part  of  Mississippi  to  send  it  to  any  other  part  of  that  state. 
We  demonstrate  the  importance  -of  new  cattle  by  taking  in  cattle 
from  outside  territory,  and  then  you  are  starting  imm^ediately 
with  new  cattle. 

I  state  this  to  show  you  what  we  have  done  and  what  we 
are  doing  in  a  spirit  of  co-operation.  The  railroads  are  a  great 
factor  in  this  work,  and  on  this  cut-over  pine  land  proposition, 
and  I  sincerely  hope  that  before  the  deliberations  conclude,  the 
interested  delegates  will  organize  a  plan  along  conservative  lines 
that  will  be  so  attractive  that  it  will  be  simply  impossible  for 
any  interested  party,  including  the  railroads,  to  get  away  from 
participating  and  doing  their  full  share  in  carrying  out  such  a 
plan.  The  railroads  of  this  country  have  an  organization  known 
as  the  Railway  Development  Association,  and  will  have  its  annual  Promises  Aid 
meeting  at  Louisville,  May  9-10-11,  and  the  Secretary  of  that  of  Railway 
Association,  Mr.  Welty,  is  present.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  we  ^«^o^'«^'o« 
represent  90  per  cent,  of  the  railroad  mileage  of  this  country, 
including  Canada — and  I  might  say  Miexico,  or  we  used  to — and 
we  would  certainly  enjoy  having  anybody  attend  that  meeting 
who  is  desirous  of  our  co-operation  in  the  movement  you  have 
under  way  now.  Secretary  Vrooman  told  Mr.  Welty  and  myself 
today  that  he  would  endeavor  to  be  with  us  at  that  time. 

Now,  this  Railway  Development  Association,  gentlemen, 
represents  the  Agricultural,  Industrial  and  Immigration  Depart- 
ments of  the  various  roads,  and  you  will  readily  understand  from 
that  that  we  are  very  much  interested  in  everything  pertaining 
to  development.  We  don't  claim  any  special  credit  for  what  the 
Illinois  Central  has  done;  we  are  not  in  this  for  philanthropy; 
we  have  a  selfish  motive.  We  realize  that  as  the  country  develops 
the  road  develops,  and  therefore  we  are  desirous  of  doing  our  full 
share  and  part  in  the  general  development  work.  I  want  to  say 
to  you  people  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Arkansas  and 
Texas,  and  the  whole  South,  that  we  have,  in  our  general  pas- 
senger waiting  room  in  Chicago,  an  exhibit  of  the  kinds  of  soils 
and  pictures  of  the  most  progressive  farms  in  this  Mississippi 
Valley. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  land  man.  If  there  is  anybody 
I  am  prejudiced  against,  it  is  the  land  man,  and  in  order  to  protect 
him  and  myself  and  the  would-be  homesteader,  I  am  always  frank 


54 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


to  tell  him   so.      I   only  wish   the   man,   in   selling  land   in   the 

Southern  Mississippi  Valley,  could  appreciate  this  fact:     That 

Make  the  when  he  conscientiously  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability  makes  a 

Homesteader     homesteader  happy,  he  is  making  his  best  agent.    Human  nature 

Happy  ig  ^he  same  all  over,  and  when  a  man  takes  an  interest  in  his 

home,  that  man  is  going  to  be  an  active  agent  from  then  on  for 

that  community.     (Applause.) 

As  I  said  in  beginning,  it  is  the  development  policy  of  the 
Illinois  Central  to  co-operate  in  every  way  we  can  in  the  further 
development  of  the  South ;  and  I  hope  the  meeting  will  not  close 
until  some  comprehensive,  practicable  plan  has  been  brought 
about  that  we  all  can  serve  on,- and  do  so  with  pleasure;  and  I 
want  to  say  that  it  will  be  a  special  pleasue  of  the  Development 
Bureau  at  Chicago  to  point  all  the  men  we  can  this  way;  and 
when  you  men  have  your  plans  ready,  whether  you  are  on  the 
lines  of  the  Illinois  Central  or  not,  please  give  me  your  infor- 
mation, the  number  of  acres  you  have  to  sell,  and  at  what  price, 
and  it  will  be  my  pleasure  to  co-operate  with  you  people  also ; 
because  any  part  of  the  South,  in  helping  itself,  only  helps  the 
whole  South  and  the  Nation.     (Applause.) 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  55 

The  Practical  Aspects  of  the 
Problem 

By  Clement  S.  Ucker 

Vice-President,  Southern  Settlement  and 
Development  Organization 

Gentlemen  of  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference :  I  am  some- 
what in  the  position  of  the  gentleman  who  so  very  ably  presided 
over  your  deliberations  yesterday — I  am  under  the  necessity  of 
introducing  myself,  and  I  proceed  to  so  do  without  further  com- 
ment. 

The  program  this  morning  provides,  as  prepared  by  the 
Program  Committee,  for  a  few  remarks  from  myself  under  the 
general  head  of  "The  Practical  /\spects  of  the  Problem."  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  I  have  been  called  upon  to  preside,  I  will  take  this 
opportunity  to  say  what  I  have  to  say  to  you  on  this  initial 
occasion. 

The  week  before  last,  we  had  a  conference  of  this  kind  at 
Wilmington,  N.  C.  A  gentleman  of  national  reputation  was  about 
to  address  the  conference,  and  another  man,  of  more  or  less 
national  reputation,  was  delivering  an  address.  The  man  who 
was  about  to  speak  was  sitting  with  me  on  the  platform,  and 
I  noticed  that  from  time  to  time  he  drew  his  chair  nearer  to 
the  front.  After  probably  fifteen  minutes,  he  backed  away,  stuck 
his  manuscript  in  his  pocket,  and  turned  to  me  and  said,  "That 
man  has  made  my  speech."  That  is  pretty  largely  the  position  of 
myself.  All  that  I  might  say  to  you  about  the  practical  aspects  of 
this  problem  was  either  touched  upon  yesterday,  or  will  be  today ; 
and  whatever  I  might  say  to  you  now  in  the  limited  time  at  my 
command  is  largely  of  a  superficial  character. 

However,  there  are  some  thoughts  I  want  to  leave  with  you. 
On  yesterday  we  listened  with  absorbing  interest  to  the  address 
made  to  you  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  United  States  Land 
Ofifice.  The  one  point  in  his  address  that  stood  out  most  promi- 
nently to  me  was  the  fact  that  in  the  public  domain,  in  the  far 
western  country,  wherever  there  has  been  thrown  open  to  the 
settlers  lands  that  certainly  could  not  be  of  much  greater  value 


56 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Cut-Over 
Lands  Must 
Be  Made 
Assimilable 


South's 
Advantages 
Little   Known 


than  these  lands  now  under  consideration  would  have,  they  were 
promptly  absorbed  by  the  public ;  all  of  which  brings  us  to  this 
one  thought — why  is  it,  that  at  this  late  day,  this  vast  area  of 
land  still  remains?  It  seems  to  me  there  are  two  reasons,  two 
main  underlying  reasons ;  one  of  them  is  perhaps  the  fact  that 
these  lands  are  not  in  what  I  choose  to  call  assimilable  form. 
They  have  not  been  put  into  condition ;  they  have  not  been  given 
that  finished  touch  that,  after  all,  may  be  necessary  to  cause  their 
assimilation.  You  will  remember  that  Mr.  Tallman  on  yesterday 
pointed  out  to  you  that  there  were,  areas — and  I  know  of  my  own 
knowledge  of  areas  in  the  west — in  Western  Nebraska,  as  I  recall 
it,  where  lands  were  offered  for  settlement  for  years,  and  Con- 
gress changed  the  form,  increased  the  area  and  terms  and  condi- 
tions, and  promptly  the  land  was  absorbed.  Therefore,  it  seems 
to  me  in  all  probability,  that  these  lands  are  not  in  assimilable 
form ;  that  perhaps  those  who  have  been  engaged  in  the  ex- 
ploitation of  lands,  engaged  in  colonization  work,  have  not  em- 
ployed the  best  and  most  comprehensive  talent  in  developing 
those  factors. 

The  other  outstanding  fact,  of  which  I  am  entirely  convinced, 
is  the  fact  that  the  public  mind  has  not  run  in  this  direction. 
Ever  since  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  left  Massachusetts ;  ever  since 
the  Cavaliers  left  the  tidewater  of  Virginia  or  the  Carolinas,  there 
has  been  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  people  that  westward 
lay  the  great  opportunities ;  and  there  has  never  been  concerted 
action  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  the  people  that  there  were 
great  and  equal  opportunities  in  the  Southern  country.  So  it 
seems  to  me  that  is.  after  all,  one  of  the  very  important  factors, 
if  not  the  most  important  factor — publicity — instilling  into  the 
minds  of  the  people  the  facts  as  they  are  and  that  there  are  op- 
portunities in  this  lower  Southern  land.  A  single  effort  cannot 
bring  that  about.  A  single  corporation,  no  matter  how  much 
financial  backing  it  may  have,  no  matter  what  talent  it  may  have, 
cannot  bring  it  about,  because  the  task  is  too  gigantic  and  be- 
cause it  requires  too  long  a  sustained  effort ;  and  what  may  be 
true  of  that  is  also  true  of  every  other  single  agency,  whether  it 
be  transportation  lines,  whether  it  be  part  of  a  state,  or  whether 
it  be  the  individual  effort  of  the  land-owning  and  land-financing 
corporation. 

After  all,  gentlemen,  there  are,  as  I  see  it,  four  factors  that 
go  to  make  up  a  country.     There  are.  transportation ;  there  are 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


57 


lands  in  adaptable  form ;  those  two  things,  coupled  with  publicity, 
ought  to  give  people.  Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  problem  you 
gentlemen  have  before  you,  and  which  is  no  different  in  any 
single  respect,  save  that  of  climate  and  location,  from  Western 
North  Carolina  or  Eastern  South  Carolina,  or  South  or  Central  Four  Factors 
Georgia,  or  Florida,  or  Eastern  Texas — those  great  cut-over  ^"^^  Make  a 
lands  present  the  same  problems ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
will  get  down  to  this  problem  when  we  have  effected  some  form 
of  organization  that  makes  the  man  who  owns  the  thing  we  are 
trying  to  operate  upon  an  interested  fundamental  part  of  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem,  and  when  all  other  interests  can  rally  around 
that  basic  effort ;  when  the  talents  of  the  Federal  government  may 
be  brought  to  bear ;  when  the  effort  is  proving  itself  to  be  one  of 
broad,  disinterested,  national  scope ;  when  the  Federal  govern- 
ment can  join  itself  with  the  States,  who,  after  all,  must  bear  the 
brunt  of  this  through  their  colleges  and  agricultural  schools ; 
then,  it  seems,  we  will  be  a  long  way  towards  solving  this 
problem ;  and  if  that  fails  of  solution,  then  it  seems  to  me  we 
will  have  to  look  to  some  source  that  we  know  not  of  in  this 
day  to  bring  about  its  solution.  But  so  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
for  the  several  years  I  have  been  connected  with  this  problem, 
that  represents  my  conclusion  with  respect  to  it — that  the  men 
who  own  the  land;  the  men  who  have  this  thing;  that  the  men 
who,  in  the  trend  of  our  affairs,  find  themselves  with  this  thing 
upon  their  hands,  have  a  very  solemn  duty  to  perform.  As  the  rp,  ,  , 
public  domain  of  the  United  States  shall  pass  away,  it  seems  to  Owner's  Dutu 
me  the  vital  aspect  of  this  problem  increases.  This  land  is  in  pri-  to  the  Nation 
vate  ownership.  The  government  does  not  own  it ;  the  States  do 
not  own  it ;  private  individuals  own  it ;  and  from  the  aspect  of  a 
progressive,  a  solidified  nation,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  behooves 
those  who  own  this  land,  together  with  all  other  agencies 
which  may  be  interested  in  it,  to  do  all  they  can  to  co-ordinate 
their  efforts  and  to  adopt  a  plan  of  action  that  will  be  able  to 
command  the  support  of  all,  and  that  will  be  continuing  in  its 
efforts. 

Gentlemen,  this  land  represented  here  today  covers  an  area 
embracing  the  eastern  part  of  Texas,  Arkansas,  Southern  Mis- 
souri, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Alabama,  Western  Georgia  and 
Western  Florida.  We  are  very  fortunate  today  in  having  with 
us  the  representative  of  one  of  these  great  states — a  state  that  I 
am  advised — a  state  that  I  know  from  my  own  personal  knowl- 


58 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


edge — has,  within  a  very  remarkably  short  period  of  time,  made 
a  remarkable  progress  in  agricultural  development.  We  are  very 
fortunate  in  having  w^ith  us  the  Chief  Executive  of  that  state,  a 
man  who  has  done  a  great  work  towards  the  accomplishment  of 
the  end  I  refer  to.  I  have  great  pleasure,  gentlemen,  in  intro- 
ducing to  you,  His  Excellency,  Governor  Charles  H.  Brough,  of 
Arkansas.     (Applause.) 


Arkansas  of 
the  Past  and 
of   Today 


Natural   Resources   of  the 

South — Arkansas  as  a 

Developing  Factor 

By  Hon.  Charles  H.  Brough 

Governor  of  Arkansas 

Gentlemen  of  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference :  I  deeply  ap- 
preciate the  honor  of  the  invitation  extended  to  me  by  my 
friend,  Mr.  Putman,  of  the  Southern  Pine  Association,  to  be 
present  and  deliver  an  address  before  this  representative  body 
of  the  captains  of  industry  of  the  South ;  men  who  are  building 
more  wisely  than  they  know, 

"Men  who  are  broad-backed,  brown-handed,  upright  as  the  pines. 
And  by  the  scale  of  a  hemisphere  shape  their  designs." 

You  have  heard  a  great  deal,  my  friends,  about  the  Arkansas 
of  the  past — the  Arkansas  traveler,  wearing  his  coonskin  cap 
and  coming  to  the  forked  roads,  not  knowing  which  fork  to 
take.  I  want  to  tell  you  gentlemen  from  Louisiana  and  Missis- 
sippi and  the  other  Southern  states  that  there  is  a  new  Arkansas 
at  the  present  time — an  Arkansas  with  an  empire  of  vision  in 
her  brain.  New  York  has  been  called  the  Empire  State  of  the 
American  Union  because  New  York  is  the  richest  state  in  the 
American  Union.  New  York  can  boast  of  the  roseate  hue  of 
her  apples  and  the  amber  of  her  fields  of  wheat;  Arkansas  can 
boast  that  her  apples  have  captured  the  First  Prize  at  the 
last  six  International  Expositions,  and  the  largest  apple  ever 
placed   on   exhibition   in   the   world   was  an   apple   raised   by  a 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  59 

Benton  County  farmier,  three  and  a  half  miles  from  Sulphur 
Springs,  which  weighed  29^  ounces.  (Applause.)  New  York 
can  point  to  the  beautiful  tint  of  her  cherry  blossoms ;  Arkansas 
can  boast  of  the  state  of  the  famous  Alberta  peaches  that  nestle 
in  the  snow-white  virginity  of  her  soil ;  and  the  only  solid  carload 
of  peaches  ever  shipped  abroad  was  shipped  by  an  Arkansas  agri- 
culturist from  the  greatest  peach  orchard  in  the  world,  located 
in  Pike  and  Howard  Counties,  Arkansas.  New  York  has  only  Wonderful 
a  small  mineral  belt ;  Arkansas  claims  18  counties  of  her  state  P^'octucts  of 
that  hold  valuable  deposits  of  anthracite  coal ;  and  it  may  be  in-  in- 
teresting to  know,  in  this  day  of  our  nation's  crisis,  when  we  are 
dependent  upon  the  United  States  Navy  to  maintain  the  freedom 
of  the  high  seas,  that  the  smokeless  coal  now  used  by  the  United 
States  Navy  is  mined  in  Sebastian  County  Arkansas.  Arkansas 
ranks  first  in  production  of  ash,  cottonwood  and  red  gum ;  third 
in  products  of  hickory  and  oak ;  and  fifth  in  the  production  of 
pine  in  the  United  States. 

We  have  at  present  about  three  million  acres  of  cut-over 
timber  in  our  state,  and  within  ten  years  this  amount  will  un- 
doubtedly increase  to  approximately  ten  million  acres,  represent- 
ing approximately,  then,  one-eighth  of  the  total  cut-over  land 
surface  of  the  Southern  states,  on  the  basis  of  76  million  acres. 

Now,  my  friends,  we  join  with  our  sister  Southern  states  in 
believing  that  the  time  has  come  for  a  great  industrial  renaissance 
for  economic  development  in  our  state ;  and  because  of  this  fact 
our  Legislature  has  recently  appropriated  about  two  million  dol- 
lars to  meet  the  terms  of  the  Smith-Lever  Bill,  for  carrying  the 
doctrine  of  agricultural  extension  into  our  state.  We  appropriated 
$2,240,000  at  the   last   session   of  the    Legislature   to   meet  the 
terms  of  the  Good  Roads  Bill,  which  will  network  our  state  with    c/^/g  „jj^ 
roads   and    construct   about   three   thousand   miles   of   improved   Nation  Co- 
roads  within  the  next  five  years.     We  are  the  third  state  in  the   operate  in 
Union  to  be  completely  freed  of  the  great  evil  of  the  cattle  tick,   Economic 
having  made  Arkansas  a  state-wide  free  cattle  tick  r-Cc'.        inking    Development 
with  Mississippi  and  Tennessee.     We  have  appropria:ted  $50,000 
to  enforce  the  provisions  of  this  Act.    We  have  begun  to  realize, 
my  friends,  that  the  foundation  of  all  educational  progress,  the 
foundation  of  all  rhoral  progress,  is  economic  development.    I  ani 
rather  heterodox  when  I  make  this  statement,  my  friends ;  but  I 
don't  believe  a  people  can  be  thoroughly  intelligent,  I  don't  be- 
lieve they  can  be  thoroughly  moral,  I  don't  believe  they  can  live 


60 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Type  of 
People  Best 
Suited  to 
Develop  Cut- 
Over  Lands 


South  Des- 
tined to  Be 
Nation's 
Industrial 
Empire 


up  to  the  highest  ideals  of  educational  advancement,  unless  they 
have  a  bedrock  of  economic  prosperity. 

After  all,  industrial  prosperity  is  the  rock  upon  which  this 
republic  rests  and  upon  which  our  South  rests  today,  and  the 
greatest  problem,  social  and  political,  which  is  before  you  today 
is  the  problem  of  scientific  agriculture — the  problem  of  the  colo- 
nization and  improvement  of  these  cut-over  lands  in  the  South 
(applause) — the  problem  of  the  foundation  of  the  economic 
structure  reared  by  human  toil  and  held  firmly  in  place  by  the 
average  prosperity  of  all  who  have  helped  in  its  building.  We 
think  this  average  prosperity  exists  whenever  there  is  a  great 
middle  class  in  our  society — not  a  domain  where  the  tenets  of 
socialism  exist,  but  where  the  people  are  all  animated  by  loyalty 
to  a  common  flag  and  a  common  country.  (Applause.)  A  great 
French  philosopher  has  said  that  civilization  is  like  beer — froth  at 
the  top,  dregs  at  the  bottom,  and  the  substantial  part  in  between. 
Show  me  a  nation  or  a  section  that  has  a  great  middle  class  of 
people  and  I  will  show  you  a  nation  and  a  section  that  is  ma- 
terially prosperous,  that  is  educationally  progressive,  and  that  is 
morally  what  it  should  be. 

We  need  to  develop,  therefore,  our  76  million  acres  of  cut- 
over  timber  land  in  the  South,  in  order  to  build  up  a  new  South — 
neither  the  top  of  society  on  the  one  hand,  nor  the  submerged 
tint  on  the  other  hand' — but  to  flood  the  South  with  a  great 
middle  class  of  people,  of  people  not  tenants  but  landlords,  and 
of  people  economically  self-sufiicient.  Now,  it  is  estimated  by 
the  distinguished  gentleman  who  addressed  you  yesterday,  who 
delivered  such  a  brilliant  address  at  Little  Rock  on  Monday 
night,  that  of  the  76  million  acres  of  cut-over  land,  fully  15 
million  acres  will  have  no  second  growth,  and  therefore  are 
thoroughly  adaptable  to  colonization.  I  congratulate  the  great 
railway  systems  of  the  South,  and  the  great  colonization  systems 
of  the  South,  that  they  are  fully  alive  to  the  immensity  and  im- 
portance of  this  problem,  and  that  they  are  utilizing  their  ac- 
tivities and  their  publicity  bureaus  in  order  to  stimulate  an  im- 
migration to  this  greatest  of  all  undeveloped  sections  of  our 
country.  The  South,  my  friends — and  I  know  there  are  delegates 
here  from  other  sections  of  the  country,  but  I  believe  they  will 
bear  me  out — the  South  is  destined  to  be  the  great  industrial 
empire  of  the  American  nation.  The  Msiddle  West,  the  West, 
and  the  East  have  shown  a  wonderfully  progressive  spirit,  but 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  61 

their  resources  are  well-nigh  utilized.  They  have,  to  no  great 
extent,  these  cut-over  lands  located  within  their  borders,  and  the 
United  States  must  look  for  its  most  progressive  development 
in  the  future  from  the  Southern  states.  At  the  same  time,  in  this 
development,  we  should  look  to  the  East,  the  Middle  West,  and 
the  West  and  absorb  a  great  deal  of  their  progressive  spirit ;  we 
should  absorb  their  progressive  spirit  with  reference  to  fine  breeds 
of  cattle.  We  have  5CX)  million  dollars  worth  of  cattle  in  the 
South  today,  but  I  regret  to  say  that  a  large  proportion  of  it  is 
common  stock,  stock  that  does  not  measure  up  to  the  best 
breeds ;  but  the  bankers  and  business  men  are  rapidly  introducing 
Herefords  and  Shorthorns  and  Angus  and  other  cattle  of  a  stand- 
ard breed;  and  it  is  very  interesting,  my  friends,  in  this  connec- 
tion, to  know  that  the  champion  bull  of  the  United  States  was 
raised  in  my  state — the  Point  Comfort  the  14th — raised  by  Col- 
onel Miles ;  sold  two  years  ago  for  $300.00  and,  after  this  bull 
won  the  First  Prize  at  the  Chicago  International  Stock  Expo- 
sition, there  was  offered  $25,000  for  this  animal.  We  are  rapidly 
developing  improved  stock  on  all  cut-over  lands,  and  this  will 
mean  a  wonderful  improvement  in  our  form  of  agriculture.  We 
need  but  to  absorb  some  of  this  spirit  and  some  of  this  progres- 
sivism  with  reference  to  the  cattle-raising  industry  from  the  d^^^.^  fJniv 
United  States ;  and  it  will  help  the  bankers,  also,  because  of  the  Willing  to 
6  billion  dollars  invested  today  in  the  live  stock  industry  of  the  Loan  Money 
United  States,  there  are  only  one  billion  dollars'  worth  of  loans  on  Cattle 
based  on  this  six  billion  dollar  live  stock  industry.  Heretofore, 
our  bankers  have  required  our  stockmen  to  mortgage  their  lands 
and  homes,  and  almost  their  wives  and  children,  in  order  to  get  a 
loan  on  stock ;  but  since  the  organization  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
System,  and  since  cattle  is  now  regarded  as  a  liquid  asset  by 
bankers,  on  which  loans  can  be  made,  a  great  opportunity  opens 
up  to  the  bankers  and  business  men  of  the  country  to  float  a 
larger  proportion  of  loans  on  the  stock  and  cattle  of  the  South. 

As  Mr.  Vrooman  told  you  yesterday — for  I  judge  he  called 
attention  to  this  point — we  are  confronted  with  a  mighty  problem 
today  in  the  South.  We  are  importing  from  five  to  six  hundred 
million  dollars  of  foodstuffs  each  year.  Cotton  is  still  king  in 
the  South,  and  by  virtue  of  the  splendid  prices  we  have  been  re- 
ceiving for  cotton  in  the  past  three  years,  cotton  is  more  firmly 
intrenched  than  ever  before;  but.  my  friends,  the  time  has  come, 
in  connection  with  this  great  war,  and  in  connection  with  our  in- 


62 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


The  South's 
Duty  to  the 
Nation  and  to 
Itself 


The 

Lumberman's 

Opportunity 


dustrial  development,  when  a  large  proportion  of  these  cut-over 
lands  in  the  South  should  be  used  for  raising  cereals,  and  legumes, 
and  foodstuffs  of  all  kinds.  An  army  travels  on  its  belly,  is  an 
old  saying;  but  the  boy  in  the  furrow  can  render  just  as  patriotic 
service  to  the  United  States  Government  as  the  soldier  on  the 
battlefield.  I  doubt  very  much,  indeed,  whether  more  than  a 
division  of  American  troops  will  be  sent  to  Europe;  for  they 
tell  us  that  it  requires  thirteen  months  to  prepare  an  army. 
Roosevelt  may  be  sent  over  with  a  regiment  to  take  its  place  out 
there  in  the  trenches,  to  plant  Old  Glory  alongside  the  Tri-color  of 
France,  (applause)  in  order  that  we  may  return  our  gratitude 
to  France  for  the  gift  of  Lafayette  and  Rochambeau,  those  great 
French  soldiers,  during  the  Revolutionary  War;  but  with  the 
exception  of  a  division  or  two  it  is  not  likely  that  an  army  will 
be  sent  to  Europe  during  this  international  war;  but  we  will  be 
expected  to  feed  our  Allies ;  we  will  be  expected  to  send  great 
convoys  of  ships  to  the  Allies  ;  and  we  will  be  expected  to  feed 
ourselves.  ]\Iy  own  state  last  year  imported  65  million  dollars' 
worth  of  foodstuffs ;  and  yet  in  Arkansas  we  saiy  that  a  wall  of 
isolation  could  be  erected  around  our  state  and  that  we  could  be 
self-sufficing  and  independent— and  yet  the  startling  fact  stares 
us  in  the  face  that  last  year  we  imported  65  millions  of  foodstuffs 
in  one  state,  and  about  600  million  dollars  of  foodstuffs  in  the 
thirteen  Southern  states. 

Now,  my  friends,  we  should  preach  a  diversified  agriculture ; 
we  should  preach  the  planting  of  cereals  and  legumes  and  soy 
beans  and  clover  crops  of  all  kinds ;  because  the  crops  of  the 
West  are  going  to  be  commandeered  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment;  and,  as  Mr.  V^rooman  said,  we  must  either  feed  ourselves 
or  we  must  go  hungry.  Now,  the  great  lumber  men  of  the 
South — and  there  are  thousands  of  them  within  my  own  state  of 
Arkansas — have  a  glorious  opportunity  in  this  respect.  Fully 
70  per  cent,  of  these  lands  are  rather  favorably  located  within 
a  short  distance  of  railroads.  Colonization  plans  could  be  made 
most  attractive  for  the  settler  from  the  older  sections  of  the 
country ;  and  the  experiment  stations  will  co-operate  with  the 
railroads  and  the  lumbermen  and  with  the  other  agencies  for 
industrial  development  of  the  South  in  attracting  settlers  to  these 
cut-over  lands.  Aside  from  this,  my  friends,  as  long  as  the  cut- 
over  lands  remain  in  their  present  state  there  is  not  only  a  great 
economic  waste  to  the  South  as  individuals,  but  there  is  a  great 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


63 


economic  waste  to  the  State  itself.  For  instance,  when  the  timber 
was  standing  on  these  lands,  these  lands  were  found  on  the  tax 
books  at  about  $18.00  an  acre ;  now  they  are  at  about  $2.00  an 
acre.  Look  what  the  State  of  Arkansas  loses  on  three  million 
acres  assessed  at  only  $2.00  an  acre,  and  I  take  it  that  this  is  true 
also  of  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas  and  others  of  the  Southern 
states.  There  is  a  direct  economic  loss  out  of  the  revenues  due 
the  Southern  states,  to  say  nothing"  of  the  economic  waste  to  the 
South  as  an  industrial  section;  and  so  we  are  going  to  make  an 
appeal,  my  friends,  for  these  lands  to  be  offered  to  settlers  at 
attractive  prices.  I  am  going  to  get  in  touch  with  John  H.  Page, 
our  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  along  these  lines,  and  with  the 
LTniversity  and  Experiment  Stations,  the  University  of  Arkansas 
and  the  Agricultural  Colleges  of  our  state,  and  see  that  exper- 
iments are  conducted  on  these  cut-over  lands  designed  to  attract 
settlers ;  and  I  believe  that  in  this  way,  within  the  next  year,  we 
can  certainly  feed  ourselves  and  we  can  certainly  lay  the  founda- 
tions for  a  great  industrial  empire. 

In  connection  with  the  stock  industry  of  the  United  States, 
I  trust  that  at  this  meeting  of  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  a 
resolution  will  be  adopted,  petitioning  our  great  President — than 
whom,  in  my  humble  opinion,  no  greater  President  has  ever  sat 
in  the  presidential  chair,  combining  as  he  does,  the  patriotism  of 
a  Washington,  the  philosophy  of  a  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  con- 
structive ability  of  an  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  sweet  charity 
of  an  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  judicial  temperament  of  a  Wil- 
liam Howard  Taft,  and  the  energy  of  a  Theodore  Roosevelt — 
greatest  men  who  ever  occupied  the  presidential  chair  (applause) 
— that  a  resolution  will  be  passed  at  this  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence petitioning  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  admit, 
free  of  all  import  duties,  cattle  from  the  Latin-American  coun- 
tries to  our  Gulf  ports,  in  order  that  the  South  may  have  the 
best  breeds  of  cattle,  and  in  order  that  these  cut-over  lands,  which 
are  admirably  adapted  for  pasturage,  may  be  supplied  with  the 
very  best  breeds  of  cattle  from  the  Latin-American  countries.  I 
believe  this  would  be  a  great  constructive  measure  that  could  be 
passed  by  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference. 

My  friends,  there  is  an  inscription  on  a  monument  in  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  erected  to  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  which  reads: 

"Who  loves  his  country,  loves  all  things. 
And  all  things  will  bless  him ; 


Economic 
Waste  in 
Present 
Situation 


Arkansas  to 
Begin  Cut- 
Over  Land 
Experimental 
Work  at  Once 


Latin-Amer- 
ican Cattle 
Suggested  to 
Stock  South- 
ern Farms 


64 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


America 
Seen  as  De 


Who  lets  his  country  die,  lets  all  things  die. 
And  all  things  dying,  curse  him." 

If  these  words,  written  on  the  monument  of  Benjamin  H. 
Hill,  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  be  true,  then  it  is  incumbent  upon  us, 
as  the  sons  of  noble  American  sires,  to  put  our  shoulders  to  the 
wheel  to  develop  the  great  American  empire  that  we  have  at  our 
disposal  today.  I  have  no  fear  of  the  result  of  this  present  Euro- 
pean War.  I  believe  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  is  the  de- 
ciding factor  in  the  scale  of  this  War.  I  have  always  believed 
in  the  prophecy  shown  in  the  Book  of  Revelations,  and  I  think  it 
ciding  Factor  is  literally  true — in  the  Book  of  Revelations  we  read :  "A  woman 
in  the  War  shall  go  forth  in  a  wilderness  and  upon  a  barren  rock  shall  give 
birth  to  a  child,  and  that  child  shall  one  day  rule  the  world." 
In  1620,  our  forefathers,  driven  by  constitutional  oppression,  left 
Mother  England  in  the  Mayflower.  On  December  20,  1620,  that 
Mayflower  reached  Plymouth  Rock,  and  there,  on  a  barren  rock, 
in  the  wilderness  of  North  America,  was  born  the  child  of  these 
United  States  ;  and  who,  in  this  intelligent  and  patriotic  audience 
before  me  today,  doubts  for  one  moment  that  that  child  today 
rules  the  world?     (Applause.) 

"Not  for  our  own  land  is  Freedom's  flag  unfurled, 
but  for  world." 

Aside  from  our  economic  development,  in  which  we  cannot 
compare  with  either  Germany,  France  or  England,  the  United 
States  today  has  the  most  remarkable  form  of  government  on  the 
face  of  the  globe.  Mr.  Gladstone,  England's  greatest  statesman, 
once  said  that  the  American  Constitution  was  the  most  remark- 
able document  that  ever  sprung  from  the  brain  of  man. 

"America  takes  but  to  give  again. 

As  the  sea  returns  her  water  in  rain, 

So  she  gathers  her  seed  from  the  haunted  of  every  crown  and 

creed. 
Her  Germany  dwells  by  the  gentler  Rhine, 
Her  Ireland  sees  the  old  sunburst  shine, 
Her  Norway  still  clings  to  the  mountain  pines ; 
And  broad-based  under  all  is  England's  broken-hearted  mood, 
As  rich  in  fortitude  as  ever  went  from  her  island  wall. 
Fused  into  her  candid  light. 
All  races  here  to  one  great  race  unite. 


America's 
Greatness 
Recognized 
Abroad 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  65 

Hereditary  foemen  forg-et  their  slogan,  kith  and  clan. 

'Twas  once  glory  to  be  a  Roman, 

America  makes  it  a  glory  now  to  be  a  man."     (Applause.) 

And  then,  my  friends,  while,  as  I  have  said,  the  economic 
development  of  our  country  is  not  parallel  with  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  Germany,  France  or  England,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  we  are  today  the  only  great  exporting  nation  of  the 
worlds — the  United  States  and  the  Argentine  Republic.  There 
were,  in  the  last  fifty  years,  only  three  great  exporting  nations — 
the  United  States,  Russia  and  Argentine  Republic ;  but  since 
the  entrance  of  Russia  into  the  war,  the  United  States  and  Ar- 
gentine Republic  remain  the  only  two  great  exporting  nations  of 
the  world. 

To  show  the  wonderful  resources  we  have  at  our  disposal, 
a  brilliant  writer  on  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  England's  leading 
paper,  paid  a  rather  humorous  but  effective  tribute  to  the  abso- 
lute dependence  of  the  average  Englishman  upon  the  United 
States  for  everything  the  Englishman  eats,  drinks  and  wears. 
He  said — in  the  morning  the  Englishman  gets  out  from  between 
his  New  England  sheets,  shaves  with  Williams'  soap  and  a  Yan- 
kee safety  razor;  adjusts  his  Kentucky  suspenders  on  trousers 
manufactured  in  Massachusetts ;  slips  on  his  shoes  manufactured 
in  St.  Louis  over  socks  manufactured  in  North  Carolina,  and 
goes  down  to  breakfast. 

The  breakfast  of  the  Englishman  consists  of  some  beefsteak 
from  a  middle  western  cow,  while  his  wife  plays  with  a  piece 
of  Chicago  ox  tongue,  and  his  children  amuse  themselves  by 
eating  some  cereals  or  rolled  oats  from  the  Middle  West.  The 
Englishman  then  goes  to  his  office.  At  his'  office  he  finds  every- 
thing is  American.  He  sits  down  on  a  Nebraska  swivel  chair 
before  a  Michigan  roll  top  desk ;  writes  his  letters  on  an  Under- 
wood, Smith  Premier,  Remington,  Caligraph,  Oliver,  Royal  or 
other  typewriter  of  American  make,  and  signs  his  letters  with  a 
Waterman,  Paul  E.  Wirt  or  Parker  fountain  pen,  all  made  in  the 
United  States ;  and  puts  his  letters  away  in  a  letter  file  made  by 
the  Macey  file  Company,  of  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.  He  then 
goes  out  to  lunch.  His  lunch  consists  of  some  roast  beef  taken 
from  the  same  middle  western  cow;  flavored  with  some  Pitts- 
burgh pickles ;  and  tops  it  all  off  with  some  canned  peaches  from 
old  Arkansas.     (Applause.) 


66 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Country's 
Amazing 
Economic 
Resources 


And  so,  the  economic  resources  of  our  country  are  tremend- 
ous. If  the  wealth  of  285  billion  dollars  were  equally  divided 
amongst  us,  we  are  told  by  the  great  economists  that  there  would 
be  $1,385  to  the  credit  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
Figures  Show  jji^ii^f^  States.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  do  96  per  cent,  of  our 
business  on  credit,  by  the  use  of  checks  and  other  forms  of  ex- 
change, there  is  in  actual  circulation  in  the  United  States  $38.40 
for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States.  Our  285 
thousand  miles  of  railway  represent  three-fifths  of  the  railway 
mileage  of  the  world,  of  which  the  South  has  approximately 
50,000  miles;  and  our  freight  rate  today  of  three-quarters  of  one 
cent  for  carrying  one  ton  one  mile  is  the  cheapest  freight  rate  in 
the  world. 

But,  my  friends,  in  spite  of  this  great  economic  development, 
in  spite  of  our  wonderful  form  of  government,  we  have  not 
adopted  the  scientific  form  of  intensive  agriculture  that  is  prac- 
ticed in  Germany,  in  France  and  in  England  today.  We  have  not 
utilized  our  forests.  Why,  the  substitution  by  Germany  of 
forest  products  instead  of  cotton,  instead  of  nitroglycerine,  and 
instead  of  cotton  absorbents,  shows  the  value  of  the  proper  util- 
ization of  the  forest  supplies,  and  this  has  enabled  Germany — our 
great  enemy  in  this  war — to  wage  the  war  with  so  much  ferocity 
up  to  the  present  time.  It  is  her  scientific  training,  her  prepared- 
ness, her  efficiency. 

But  I  rejoice,  my  friends — and  I  say  this  with  due  respect 
to  our  German-Americans,  for  I  believe  they  are  going  to  be 
loyal  to  Old  Glory  during  this  war ;  I  believe  every  one  of  them 
will  be  loyal — I  rejoice,  however,  that  in  the  United  States  we 
have  the  ideal  of  character,  while  in  Germany  they  have  the 
ideal  of  efficiency.  In  Germany  a  man  is  simply  a  cog  in  an 
organization,  and  he  is  worked  just  as  much  as  a  cog  would  be 
worked  in  any  kind  of  a  machine.  In  the  United  States  the 
ideal  is  of  character.  What  we  need  in  the  United  States,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  South  is  the  blending  of  the  two  ideals — character 
and  efficiency.  Our  men  are  a  high-toned  men,  who  wear  their 
consciences  as  their  kings,  and  wear  the  white  flower  of  blameless 
private  and  public  lives.  Character  is  one  of  our  inheritances; 
but,  my  friends,  we  lack  the  ideal  of  efficiency  in  the  South.  If 
we  could  but  blend  the  two  ideals  of  character  and  efficiency  in 
our  American  civilization,  and  particularly  in  our  Southern  civil- 
ization, we  would  have  a  character  fashioned  that  would  pass  all 


American  vs. 

German 

Ideals 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  67 

nations  in  the  formulation  of  their  national  design.  I  therefore 
appeal  to  these  captains  of  industry  of  the  South  and  the  Middle 
West,  who  are  represented  here  today,  in  developing  these  great 
cut-over  lands  to  go  out  and,  in  your  colonization  plans  and  in 
the  management  of  your  industrial  work,  preach  the  gospel  of 
blending  the  two  ideals  of  character  and  efficiency.  I  beseech 
you  to  preach  the  gospel  that  the  South  should  feed  herself ;  that 
we  should  be  a  self-sufficing  section,  rather  than  an  importing 
section.  I  beseech  you  to  go  out  and  to  use  your  means — for  most 
of  you  are  men  of  means  and  influence — to  better  the  condition  of  Combine 
our  rural  population.  Eighty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Character 
the  South  live  in  places  smaller  than  2. SCO;  and  they,  after  all,  are  pffiriencv 
the  saving  remnants  of  our  economic  civilization.  I  beseech  you 
not  to  pursue  a  selfish  policy  with  reference  to  putting  your  cut- 
over  lands  on  the  market,  to  sell  them  on  reasonable  terms,  at 
good  terms  of  credit.  I  appeal  to  such  live  citizens  as,  my  friends, 
Mr.  Putman.  who  has  been  honored  by  being  made  Advertising 
Manager  of  the  Southern  Pine  Association ;  Mr.  Ucker  and  other 
distinguished  gentlemen,  the  editors  of  all  the  trade  journals,  to 
present  before  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  great  economic 
possibilities  of  these  cut-over  lands. 

My  friends,  we  have  a  new  South  today.  Let  it  be  a  new 
South  in  every  way.  God  grant  that  the  traditions  of  the  old  may 
prove  an  incentive  to  the  progress  of  the  new.  God  grant  that 
you  and  I,  in  our  respective  spheres  of  life,  may  see  to  it  that 
our  wonderful  undeveloped  resources  are  developed ;  that  the 
forests,  that  like  giants  stand  to  sentinel  our  land,  are  properly 
conserved  ;  and  then  we  ma}'  say  with  the  poet : 

"Henceforth,  oh  Southland,  we  look  up  to  thee, 
Not  down  at  other  lands. 
Arise,  arise,  be  not  proud. 
Be  humble  and  be  wise. 
And  bow  thy  head  to  the 
Great  Unknown  One,  who  on  high 
Hath  willed  that  as  a  land 
Dixie  shall  never  die!"     (Applause.) 


68 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Natural  Ad- 
vantages of 
the  South 


Lands  of  the 
West  and 
North 


Soils  offhe  Coastal  Plains  Area 

By  C.  F.  Marbut 

In  Charge,  Soil  Survey,  Bureau  of  Soils, 
United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture 

Mr.  Chairman :  It  is  one  of  my  social  theories  that  if  we  could 
fill  every  man's  belly  and  cover  his  back  we  would  solve  most  of  the 
social  problems.  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  say  that  this  is  just  like 
most  sweeping  statements,  but  it  contains,  nevertheless,  a  certain 
amount  of  truth.  The  question  of  filling  bellies  and  covering  backs 
is  partly,  at  least,  a  question  of  soil.  The  soil  is  at  least  one  factor, 
and  an  important  one  in  doing  both. 

The  South  is  very  much  favored  in  its  wonderful  climate,  in 
its  abundant  rainfall,  its  warm  winters,  its  long  growing  seasons, 
and  in  the  great  variety  of  crops  which  that  climate  permits  it  to 
grow.  In  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  as  was  so  clearly 
brought  out  by  Commissioner  Tallman  yesterday,  the  available  land 
is  pressing  pretty  close  up  to  the  possibility  of  crop  production  on 
that  land.  I  have  had  some  connection  with  the  classification  of 
lands  in  the  national  forests,  and  many  times  within  the  last  three 
years  I  have  recommended  to  the  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils  and 
the  chief  of  the  office  of  Forest  Reserves,  the  opening  up  for  settle- 
ment of  tracts  of  land  which  I  knew  positively  could  not  ripen  a 
wheat  crop.  It  was  perfectly  evident  that  a  wheat  crop  could  not 
be  ripened  on  it  because  of  its  Northern  location,  or  its  high  altitude. 
Yet,  that  land  is  sought  by  a  great  number  of  people,  and  because  of 
the  strong  demand  for  that  land,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
soil  is  good,  and  because  also  of  the  fact  that  the  land  will  grow 
grain  hay  in  a  region  where  summer  grazing  is  important,  it  will 
probably  enable  the  farmer  to  make  a  living,  especially  if  it  is 
carried  on  in  conjunction  with  grazing  in  the  national  forests  in  the 
summer  time.  I  make  the  preceding  statement  merely  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  kind  of  land  now  being  taken  up  by  settlers  in  the  far 
West  and  North.  In  the  South  no  such  climatic  conditions  exist. 
There  are  tremendous  areas  of  smooth  unoccupied  land  in  the  South 
where  the  growing  season  is  long. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  69 

The  Southern  part  of  the  United  States  is  an  area  widely 
different  from  any  other  area  of  the  same  size,  either  in  Europe, 
Asia  or  Africa.  The  position  in  Europe  that  corresponds  to  the 
Southern  part  of  the  United  States  is  mainly  mountain  land,  and 
only  a  very  little  of  it  is  open  to  utilization  by  man.  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  Asia  and  that  part  of  Africa  that  corresponds 
climatically  to  the  Southern  Coastal  Plain  of  the  United  States  is 
largely  a  desert.  Fortunately  the  desert  in  America  corresponding 
to  the  desert  in  Africa  happens  to  lie  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  where 
it  doesn't  do  any  harm.  We  have  a  region  here  that  is  smooth  in 
topography,  has  a  high  rainfall  and  climate  favorable  to  agriculture. 

The  character  of  the  soil  in  any  place  at  any  time  is  due  to  two 

fundamental  things.     This  is  a  rather  general  statement,  but  will 

enable  us  to  get  to  the  point.     One  is  the  character  of  the  material 

from  which  the  soil  came.    The  other  is  what  has  happened  to  that 

material  since  it  began  to  exist  as  a  soil.     The  main  thing  that  in-    Climate's 

fluences  a  soil  after  it  has  been  formed  is  the  climate.     The  way   '"'..5/'^^  '" 
■    r,  ,  ;•■,,,  11  •  f        X        Sou-Making 

climate  mfluences  that  sou  is  largely  through  the  action  of  water, 

and  where  rainfall  is  very  heavy  leaching  goes  on  at  a  rather  heavy 

rate.     Furthermore,  the  leaching  or  soluble  effect  of  the  water  is 

increased  in  its  effect  by  high  temperature,  so  that  in  a  region  where 

the  annual  temperature  is  high  and  the  rainfall  heavy,  the  soil  soon 

becomes  thoroughly  leached.    What  does  that  mean  ?    It  means  that 

the  soluble  material  in  those  soils  has  been  carried  away  and  taken 

to"the  sea.     It  means  also  that  a  large  part  of  the  minerals  in  that 

soil,   those   that   are   easily   decomposible,    have   been   decomposed, 

and  the  salts  of  which  they  are  composed  have  been  taken  out  of 

the  soil.    That  is  just  the  condition  that  exists  in  a  large  part  of  the 

South.     W^e  have  here  a  region  of  high  rainfall,  a  region  of  long 

summers,  a  region  of  warm  winters,  during  which  the  soil  does  not    Tremendous 

freeze :  during  which,  therefore,  the  rain  can  act  upon  the  soil  all      ^^ 

the  time,  both  summer  and  winter.     The  result  is  that   Southern    Qrowing 

soils  are  pretty  well  leached.     The  result  is  that  a  large  part  of  the    Seasons 

soluble   constituents   in   that   soil   is   carried   out,   taken   away   and 

carried  to  sea.     These  soils  differ  very  much  from  the  soils  of  the 

wide  plains  of  the  West,  for  example,  where  the  soluble  material, 

at  least  in  places,  is  so  high  on  account  of  the  great  abundance  of 

that  material,  that  plants  cannot  grow.     Wq  call  it  alkali,  but  it  is 

nothing  more  than  an  excess  of  soluble  material  in  the  soil.     We 

have  just  opposite  of  that  condition  of  things  in  the  Southern  and 

Southeastern  part  of  the  United  States.     These  soils,  especially  the 


70 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Difficulties  of 
the  Northern 
Farmer 


mineral  salts,  were  washed  out  long  ago,  and  now  in  addition  to 
those  things  being  gone,  the  minerals  have  been  extensively  decom- 
posed and  their  constituents  carried  away.  To  illustrate  that  I  will 
call  your  attention  to  a  table  of  Southern  soils  I  have  here. 

I  have  used  here  the  names  we  use  in  the  Bureau  of  soils  classi- 
fication ;  and  I  have  given  the  percentages  of  potash  and  lime  and 
silica.  Of  course,  silica  is  not  one  of  the  elements  of  fertility.  The 
Orangeburg  Sandy  Loam,  which  is  an  important  soil  in  Western 
Georgia,  in  Central  Alabama  and  Eastern  Mississippi,  and  quite  an 
important  soil  also  in  Central  Louisiana,  and  also  in  Texas  (but  not 
very  abundantly  in  Texas),  has  1/10  of  1  per  cent  of  potash.  Soils 
in  other  areas  will  contain  2  or  3  per  cent.  This  contains  1/10  of 
1  per  cent.  What  I  want  to  point  out  to  you  is  that  the  Southern 
soils  are  pretty  well  leached  through  natural  conditions — not  due  to 
Southern  agriculture.  The  farmer  has  not  leached  them  out.  Nature 
did  it.  It  is  the  result  of  natural  processes.  It  is  a  condition  that 
the  Southern  landowner  and  farmer  must  meet.  How  does  Nature 
compensate  the  Southern  farmer  for  this  soil  condition  which  she 
has  given  him?  The  compensation  lies  in  just  what  I  mentioned 
first,  in  the  tremendous  advantage  that  the  Southern  farmer  has  in 
his  climate.  The  settlers  who  take  up  land  in  the  high  mountains  of 
the  West  and  North  find  it  absolutely  impossible  to  lengthen  their 
growing  season  one  day.  They  find  it  impossible  to  increase  their 
rainfall  1/10  of  1  inch.  They  must  meet  conditions  that  they  cannot 
change.  The  Southern  farmer,  however,  is  not  i-n  that  position.  He 
is  not  under  the  necessity  of  resigning  himself  to  the  soil  conditions 
established  for  him  by  nature.  Since  his  soil  deficiency  is  merely 
one  of  soluble  mineral  matter,  and  a  supply  of  organic  matter  they 
may  be  supplied  by  him.  The  great  development  of  the  fertilizer 
industry  within  the  last  fifty  years  has  made  it  possible  for  the 
Southern  farmer  to  purchase  an  abundant  supply  of  mineral 
fertilizer  for  his  soil,  while  his  climate  favors  the  rapid  utilization 
of  all  organic  matter  that  he  puts  into  it. 

The  Southern  farmer  labors  under  a  slight  disadvantage  in  the 
nature  of  his  soils.  He  basks  in  the  favor  of  the  tremendously 
advantageous  climate  and  is  able  to  overcome  the  disadvantage  of  his 
soils  by  the  use  of  fertilizers,  which, are  not  extremely  expensive. 
That  is  essentially  the  situation  so  far  as  the  character  of  Southern 
soils  is  concerned. 

There  is  another  factor  in  the  handling  of  soils  in  agriculture, 
with  which  agriculture  has  to  contend— and  that  is  the  question  of 


/ 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


71 


Plain  Region 
Smooth 


topography.     I  don't  mean  elevation  necessarily ;  that  comes  in  as  a 
part  of  the  climate ;  but  I  mean  the  local  relief  of  the  country,  that 
character  of  the  country  which  says  you  can  either  use  machinery    ,,  ..      , 
or  you  cannot — you  can  use  this  land  for  crops  or  for  pasture.     I 
have  no  map  here  showing  the  characteristics  of  the  topography  •  •  . 

of  Southern  soils,  but  I  will  use  these  maps ;  and  do  not  let  the 
coloring  of  these  maps  divert  you  from  what  I  am  saying ;  because 
this  coloring  does  not  represent  topography  at  all. 

In  general  I  will  say  that  the  topography  of  the  coastal  plain 
is,  as  a  whole,  smooth.     It  lies  low  and  the  topography  is  smooth ;    Topography 
but  that  does  not  mean  that  it  is  flat ;  and  there  are  certaii'^  areas  in    of  Coastal 
which  the   topography   is   as   complex   and  in   which   it   influences 
agriculture  as  much  as  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region. 

In  Alabama  the  edge  of  the  coloring  here  represents  the  interior 
part  of  the  coastal  plain.  That  is  not  coastal  plain  country,  and 
since  this  Conference  is  concerned  with  coastal  plain  country  only, 
that  represents  the  northern  edge  of  the  country  we  are  considering 
(pointing  to  map).  Along  the  edge  of  the  coastal  plain  is  a  region 
where  the  topography  is  pretty  rough  in  detail.  It  is  relatively  high ; 
there  is  abundant  rainfall,  and  that  has  enabled  the  streams  to  cut 
it  up  pretty  thoroughly.  There  is  quite  a  percentage  of  that  country 
that  is  too  rough  for  cultivation.  Then  through  this  belt  is  the 
Black  Belt  and  low  belt  of  Alabama.  When  I  say  black  I  apply 
that  to  the  soil  and  not  to  the  people.  It  happens  though  that  both 
soil  and  people  are  largely  black  in  that  belt.  Running  just  about 
south  of  it  is  a  belt  of  rough  country  where  the  country  rises  sud- 
denly from  the  lowland  of  the  black  belt,  and  then  southward  slopes 
gradually  down  to  the  sea.  The  North-South  coastal  plain  profile 
would  begin  at  the  North  with  rough  country,  and  then  would  fol- 
low a  low  smooth  belt,  and  then  suddenly  it  would  rise  to  an 
elevation  of  two  hundred  feet  above  that  region  and  slope  thence 
gradually  to  the  sea.  In  addition  to  these  rough  belts  there  are 
others  along  each  side  of  all  the  larger  streams. 

In  between  the  country  is  smooth.  Down  in  this  region  it  is  all 
so  low  that  it  is  relatively  smooth. 

Taking  this  region  as  a  whole  it  is  a  region  of  smooth  country, 
and  Florida  is  still  smoother. 

In  Mississippi  the  same  rough  belt  exists  just  south  of  Meridian 
and  extends  inward  a  little  way,  but  gradually  fades  out.  The 
rim  of  it  extends  northward  in  this  direction,  flattening  out  as  it 


The  Soils  of 
Alabama 


72 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Mississippi 
and  Louisiana 
From  a 
■Standpoint 
of  Lands 


Arkansas  Pre- 
sents Varied 
Character 
of  Soils 


Erosion's 
Effect  on 
Soil  Fertility 


goes,  and  a  little  less  broken  in  this  region.  Then,  along  the  western 
side  of  the  State,  there  is  a  belt  of  country  which  is  relatively  high, 
but  is  thoroughly  cut  to  pieces  by  streams.  This  consists  of  the  hill 
lands  just  east  of  the  Delta. 

In  Louisiana  this  region  is  all  smooth,  except  along  the  eastern 
side,  where  it  is  cut  up  by  streams  flowing  into  the  Mississippi.  In 
this  part  of  the  State  there  is  more  or  less  rough  land — possibly  10 
per  cent — a  little  rough  for  cultivation  under  conditions  of  South- 
ern rainfall ;  and  going  southward  it  slopes  to  smooth  land  down  to 
the  sea. 

In  Arkansas  we  have  two  mountainous  regions.  By  the  way — 
the  request  that  was  extended  to  me  by  Mr.  Moore  of  the  Southern 
Pine  Association,  stated  that  they  desired  to  discuss  Arkansas  as  a 
whole — not  simply  the  coastal  plain  part ;  so  I  have  colored  the 
whole  state.  There  is  a  mountainous  belt  in  this  region,  just  south 
of  the  Arkansas  River  lowland,  a  high  plateau  belt  in  the  northern 
part,  and  a  high  limestone  region  in  the  extreme  northern  part. 
The  eastern  part  of  the  State  is  low.  In  the  mountain  regions,  by 
no  means,  is  all  of  the  land  too  rough  to  cultivate.  The  rough 
topography  consists  of  certain  minor  ridges  which  are  high  and 
steep  with  intervening  lowlands,  two,  three  and  four  miles  in  width, 
all  of  which  are  now  cultivated  to  a  great  extent  and  which  will  be 
more  cultivated  in  the  future.  The  North  Central  part  of  the  State, 
on  the  other  hand,  consists  of  a  high  plateau  except  where  valleys 
have  been  cut  into  it.  The  northern  edge  drops  off  steeply.  The 
southern  edge  also  has  a  narrow  belt  of  rough  country.  In  general 
it  is  a  high  plateau. 

In  Texas  we  include  only  a  small  portion  of  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State.  In  the  northern  part  there  is  a  good  deal  of  relatively 
rough  land.  Then,  as  you  go  southward,  the  country  gradually 
slopes  off  to  a  smooth  plain  at  sea  level. 

Probably  15  to  20  per  cent  of  the  coastal  plain  lands  of  the 
South  are  rather  too  rough  for  cultivation  under  existing  condi- 
tions here.  What  are  those  conditions?  Warm  winters  which  do 
not  freeze  the  soil,  and  thereby  expose  it  to  erosion  throughout 
twelve  months  of  the  year ;  high  rainfall ;  the  absence  of  thick  grass 
over  the  timber  land  as  well  as  the  fields ;  the  South  being  charac- 
teristically a  region  of  no  grass.  The  Southern  farmer,  therefore, 
has  to  contend  with  the  two  unfavorable  conditions  of  a  pretty 
well  leached  soil,  and  a  soil  which  erodes  easily. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  73 

The  colors  of  these  charts  show  the  percentage  of  undeveloped 
or  unimproved  land  worked  out  from  census  data.  This  represents 
nothing  but  a  compilation  made  from  the  census  reports.  This 
darker  color  represents  an  area  where  80  to  90  per  cent  is  unim- 
proved :  this  represents  60  to  65 ;  and  here  60  to  80.  If  the  black  q^  „  p  . 
belt  could  be  sorted  out  from  this  belt  we  would  have  in  the  black  Unin^proved 
belt  an  area  where  there  is  very  little  land  not  cultivated;  but  since 
the  statistics  are  given  according  to  gounties,  and  since  each  county 
includes  this  land  plus  the  land  lying  outside  of  the  black  belt,  I  was 
unable  to  get  the  percentage  of  unimproved  land  in  the  black  belt. 

In  Mississippi,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state,  there  is 
rather  a  large  area,  of  which,  according  to  the  census  reports  more 
than  90  per  cent  is  unimproved.  Another  belt  80  to  90;  m  this 
region  60  to  80;  and  here  two  areas  are  essentially  the  same  45  to 
65,  50  to  65. 

In  Louisiana  the  unimproved  area  lies  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  state.  More  than  90  per  cent  of  the  area  is  unim- 
proved, and  a  large  part  of  that  is  quite  smooth  land.  Here  are 
two  areas  where  80  to  90  and  65  to  80  is  unimproved ;  and  over 
here  is  an  area  where  a  large  part  is  unimproved,  and  becomes  less 
and  less  as  we  go  northward. 

In  Arkansas,  there  is  no  county — there  are  parts  of  the  state^ 
but  no  whole  county  where  more  than  90  per  cent  is  unimproved. 
There  are  plenty  of  areas — small  areas — where  more  than  90  per 
cent  is  unimproved,  but  no  single  county,  so  that  the  lowest  per- 
centage of  unimproved  land  there  is  80  to  90  per  cent,  and  then, 
lying  along  the  other  side  of  that,  we  have  land  which  has  a  higher 
percentage  of  unimproved. 

There  are  two  centers  in  Arkansas  with  a  similarity  in  unim- 
proved land ;  one  in  the  Southern  mountain  region ;  the  other 
in  the  high  plateau  of  the  North,  extending  beyond  the  sand  stone 
plateau  over  into  the  redlands  of  the  North. 

In  Texas  you  see  a  large  area  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
state,  which  extends  to  the  area  in  Louisiana,  where  more  than  90 
per  cent  is  unimproved. 

The  white  areas  here  represent  level  land ;  it  is  not  coastal  plain, 
and  therefore  not  pine  land ;  and  they  are  not  taken  into  considera- 
tion. That  is  the  level  land  of  Arkansas ;  in  other  words,  it  is  not 
pine  land.  In  Texas  I  only  included  a  small  part ;  and  in  Alabama 
I  included  all  the  coastal  plain,  but  the  northern  mountain  region 


74 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Wide  Scope 
of  Southern 
Pine  Associa- 
tion's   Activi- 
ties 


The  Charac- 
ter  of    Unim- 
proved Lands 


Alabama's 
Uncultivated 
Millions  of 
Acres 


was  left  out ;  and  in  Mississippi  the  level  plain  and  the  northern 
part. 

These  round  dots  show  the  location  of  the  saw  mills  of  the 
Southern  Pine  Association,  compiled  from  a  list  sent  me  by  Mr. 
Moore.  I  had  a  draftsman  take  the  list  and  locate  the  mills  on  the 
maps.  Since  this  is  a  discussion  of  the  Southern  Pine  Association 
lands,  you  will  notice  that  the  areas  which  we  discussed  are  the 
areas  that  include  all  of  the  saw  mills,  with  the  exception  of  two  in 
the  mountains  of  Alabama. 

The  maps  already  shown  were  compiled  from  census  data  and 
does  not  undertake  to  show  details.  After  that  had  been  compiled 
then  the  question  of  the  details  of  these  different  areas,  details  con- 
cerning the  character  of  unimproved  lands,  was  raised,  and  how 
such  information  could  be  displayed.  The  Soil  Survey  reports,  so 
far  as  published,  give  details  concerning  the  character,  distribution 
and  acreage  of  the  various  soils.  For  example,  taking  the  report 
of  this  county,  I  can  say,  there  are  967  acres  of  Orangeburg  sandy 
loam  in  that  county.  The  Soil  Survey  reports  will  show  us,  with 
great  accuracy,  the  acreage  of  each  soil  type  in  the  county  surveyed. 
When  a  soil  survey  of  a  county  is  completed  we  have  the  data  avail- 
able in  great  detail.  The  reports  will  state  further  the  approximate 
percentage  of  any  given  soil  remaining  unimproved  at  the  time  the 
survey  was  made.  That,  of  course,  is  an  estimate,  but  is  based 
upon  the  study  of  the  man  who  went  over  the  ground  and  saw 
every  40  or  10  acres  of  it.  In  fact,  the  Soil  Survey  man  is  sup- 
posed to  see  every  foot  of  the  ground.  He  does  see  the  land  so 
that  he  can  form  a  very  close  estimate  as  to  how  much  is  cultivated 
and  how  much  uncultivated.  I  took  the  survey  reports  therefore 
and  compiled  the  data  that  they  show,  and  that  is  shown  in  these 
charts  I  have  here.  I  will  begin  with  Alabama,  the  legend  is  placed 
up  there. 

In  Alabama  nearly  every  county  has  been  surveyed  in  detail, 
so  that  we  have  definite  data  for  every  county  except  three.  These 
are  the  counties  of  the  coastal  plain  of  Alabama,  with  the  exception 
of  two  or  three.  The  bars  on  the  chart  represent,  by  their  length, 
the  total  acreage  of  unimproved  land  in  each  county,  and  these 
figures  up  here  represent  the  number  of  acres  in  figures.  The 
vertical  red  lines  across  all  the  bars  cut  them  up  into  lengths  of 
100,000  acres  each.  You  can  see,  therefore,  that  Baldwin  county, 
for  example,  has  960,000  acres  of  land  which  is  unimproved.  Here 
in  Lee  County,  for  example,  there  is  only  100,000  acres  unimproved. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  75 


That  means  100,000  acres  of  coastal  plain.  Some  of  Lee  County 
is  in  the  coastal  plain  and  some  in  the  mountains  to  the  north,  so 
that  the  bar  for  this  county  does  not  represent  all  the  unimproved 
land.  The  yellow  color  represents  sand,  the  blue  color,  wet  and 
heavy  lands,  the  uncolored,  the  sandy  loam,  and  the  red  color,  the 
rough  and  mountainous  lands.  The  wet  and  heavy  lands  include 
all  lands  wet,  or  frequently  overflowed  and  all  soils  heavier  than 
loams. 

It  is  well  known  that  sand  has  a  certain  adaptability  to  crops — 
that  is — there  are  certain  crops  which  you  can  grow  on  sand,  and 
certain  others  which  do  not  do  well  on  such  soil.  There  are  certain 
other  crops  adapted  to  wet  and  heavy  lands — lands  that  have  an 
abundance   of   moisture;   and   certain   other  crops   are   adapted   to  , 

sandy  loams.     I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  wet  and  heavy  lands    ^r^f  Lands; 
of  the  South  are  probably  the  lands  on  which  stock  raising  will  de-    What  They 
velop  in  the  future  the  best,  because  they  are  the  lands  on  which   Are  Adapted 
forage   crops   and   grasses   will   grow   the   best.     The   sandy   loam   ^^^• 
lands  are  lands  wide  in  their  range  of  adaptibility.     They  are  well 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  truck  crops  and  cotton.     Truck  crops  and 
•cotton,  then,  are  probably  the  best  crops  for  the  sands,  forage  crops 
for  the  wet  and  heavy  lands,  forestry  for  the  rough  lands,  and  gen- 
eral farm  crops  for  the  sandy  loams. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  take  up  in  detail  each  of  the  individual 
counties,  but  I  will  call  your  attention  to  certain  general  character- 
istics of  the  several  states. 

You  will  notice  a  considerable  amount  of  yellow  in  the  bars 
for  the  Alabama  counties,  showing  the  presence  of  a  considerable 
amount  of  sand  in  Alabama.  You  will  note  also  that  the  blue  color 
representing  the  proportion  of  wet  and  heavy  land  is  not  extremely 
prominent.  It  is,  however,  in  Clark  County  and  Washington  Coun- 
ty. Practically  all  of  this  land  in  Washington  County  is  wet  land 
and  not  heavy.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  sand  in  Baldwin 
County.  As  you  go  north,  the  sandy  loam  makes  up  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  soils.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  state  the  days  rep- 
resent a  considerable  proportion  of  the  land,  but  it  happens  that  all 
the  clays  are  under  cultivation  and  do  not  enter  into  this  calculation. 

Next  I  will  take  Mississippi.  Another  factor  enters  there,  and 
that  is  lack  of  knowledge.  We  know  much  less  about  the  soils  of 
Mississippi  than  of  Alabama,  because  only  a  relatively  small  part  of 
the  state  has  been  covered  by  soil  surveys  up  to  the  present  time. 


76  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

A  solid  colored  bar  represents  a  surveyed  county,  while  a  bar  col- 
ored only  in  skeleton  form  represents  an  unsurveyed  county  where 
the  proportions  of  the  various  kinds  of  lands  given  are  based  upon 
the  character  of  the  land  in  the  nearest  surveyed  county,  or  upon 
the  general  knowledge  we  have  acquired  in  our  work  in  the  state. 
We  have  gained  more  or  less  general  knowledge  of  the  character  of 
soils  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  that  factor  enters  into 
this  estimate. 

Without  going  over  the  counties  in  detail,  I  will  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  absence  of  yellow — the  nearly  complete  absence— in 
the  soils  of  Mississippi.  In  these  counties  lying  in  the  southeastern 
and  eastern  part  of  the  state  there  is  some  sand.  In  the  western 
part  of  the  state,  not  including  the  delta,  the  blue  color,  you  will 
notice,  is  very  prominent. 

In  other  words,  Mississippi  is  a  state  of  rather  heavy  soils ; 
that  color  represents  both  wet  and  heavy,  but  in  Mississippi  it  rep- 
resents relatively  heavy  land,  with  very  little  wet  land.     It  is  prac- 
tically all  silt  loam.     Mississippi  is,  therefore,  a  state  of  silt  loams, 
Mississippi's      well  drained,  as  it  happens  in  this  case;  a  state,  therefore,  where 
Soils    Largely   the  lands  are  adapted  to  forage  crops.     You  will  notice  also  that 
Silt  Loams         ^\^q  percentage  of  sandy  loam  is  rather  lower  than  in  the  case  of 
Alabama,  but  not  so  high  as  in  Louisiana,  for  example.     You  wil) 
notice  also  that  the  red  is  more  prominent  in  Mississippi  than  in 
Alabama.     There  are  more  rough  lands  in  Mississippi  than  in  Ala- 
bama, but  a  great  deal  of  this  rough  land  shown  here  represents 
silt  land  also.    It  represents  land  that  can  be  converted  into  pasture. 
You  will  notice  again  that  Louisiana  is  not  covered  solid.    We 
know  relatively  little  about  the  details  of  Louisiana  soils,  except  in 
a  few  places.     We  have  surveyed  Tangipahoa  Parish  in  the  east, 
Winn  Parish  in  the  northwest,  Iberia  in  the  southeast,  East  Baton 
Rouge,  East  Feliciana  and  Bienville,  and  recently  surveyed  Rapides, 
but  the  data  for  the  latter  is  not  yet  available.    You  will  notice  that 
Louisiana  the  percentage  of  sand  is  low.     The  percentage  of  wet  and  heavy 

Rich  in  Sandy  land  is  rather  high.     The  percentage  of  rough  land  is  also  pretty 
Loams  ^^^     -pj^g  j^lug  color  is  especially  prominent  in  counties  east  of  the 

Mississippi — Tangipahoa,  East  and  West  Feliciana.  You  will  notice 
also  the  percentage  of  sandy  loams — which  is  a  widely  adaptable 
soil — is  relatively  high.  That,  like  the  others,  is  based  on  estimate, 
of  course,  but  the  estimate  is  based  on  the  general  knowledge  we 
have — a  good  deal  of  general  knowledge  and  the  results  obtained  by 
the  surveys  in  the  nearest  surveyed  counties. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  11 

We  have  in  Arkansas  the  whole  of  the  state  represented,  ex- 
cept the  lowlands,  and  it  should  be  stated  that  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  that  state  lies  in  its  lowlands.  I  might  say  it  is  more  or 
less  of  a  misrepresentation  of  Arkansas  to  show  merely  its  upland 
portion,  a  good  deal  of  which  is  mountainous  land,  but  you  will 
notice  the  yellow  is  not  present.  You  will  notice  the  blue  is  quite 
prominent  in  a  number  of  counties,  but  what  corresponds  to  sandy 
loam  in  the  other  counties  is  quite  prominent  in  Arkansas.  That 
does  not  mean  that  it  is  all  sandy  loam,  however.  You  will  notice, 
though,  that  the  red  is  quite  prominent.  Wherever  we  have  a 
coastal  plain  county,  there  is  very  little  red  in  it.  Jefferson  is  a 
coastal  plain,  but  the  amount  of  unimproved  land  is  larger  than 
shown  here,  because  not  all  of  Jefferson  County  lies  in  the  coastal 
plain,  and  is  not  represented  here.  Jefferson  has  a  good  deal  of  wet 
and  heavy  land.  Grant  County  is  a  coastal  plain  county,  and  the 
proportion  of  rough  and  stony  land  is  low.  When  we  get  into  the 
mountain  counties,  the  proportion  of  rough  and  stony  land  is  rela- 
tively high. 

Texas,  again,  we  know  relatively  little  about,  and  I  have  un- 
dertaken to  show  only  the  eastern  part  of  the  state.  One  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  Texas  Coast  Plain  is  that  there  is  a  very  high 
percentage  of  sandy  loam  and  a  relatively  low  percentage  of  sand. 
One  or  two  counties  have  a  high  percentage  of  sand.  Wet  and 
heavy  lands  are  also  low.  Texas  is  a  region  of  adaptable  soils  and 
a  small  amount  of  the  characteristically  forage  land  crops.  1  will 
also  say  that  this  blue  color  in  Texas  represents  mostly  the  heavy 
lands,  rather  than  the  wet,  for  there  is  not  a  great  deal  of  wet  land 
in  the  state. 

Now,  to  sum  the  whole  thing  up,  I  have  put  on  the  chart  a 
summation  of  the  data  shown  on  the  other  charts. 

This  bar  represent^  for  Alabama  the  total  improved  land ;  this, 
the  total  unimproved  land,  and  of  the  unimproved  land,  this  repre- 
sents the  percentage  of  sand,  this  the  wet  and  heavy  land,  this  the 
rough,  and  this  the  sandy  loam. 

The  same  way  in  other  states.  You  will  notice  here  the  large 
amount  of  blue  in  Mississippi  and  the  relatively  small  amount  of 
red — a  little  larger  than  in  Alabama  and  quite  a  little  larger  than  in 
Texas. 

A  Delegate :  I  would  like  to  ask  whether  the  chart  represents 
the  entire  part  of  the  states? 

Mr.  Marbut :  No.  It  represents  only  those  counties  in  the 
coastal  plain,  with  ihe  exception  of  Arkansas. 


78 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Two  Kinds 
of  Natural 
Drainage 


Some  Factors  fo  be  Consid- 
ered in  the  Drainage  of  the 
Cut-Over  Lands  6>///f^  South 

By  S.  H.  McCrory 

Chief  of  Drainage  Investigations 

Office  of  Public  Roads  and  Rural  Engineering 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture 

One  of  the  fundamental  requirements  of  any  soil  that  is  to 
be  used  profitably  for  agriculture  is  that  it  be  well  drained.  It 
matters  little  how  much  inherent  fertility  the  soil  may  possess, 
or  how  favorably  located  the  land  may  be  with  respect  to  mar- 
kets, if  there  is  insufficient  drainage  agricultural  operations  can- 
not be  conducted  successfully.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to 
say  that  in  all  the  Southern  States  there  are  large  areas  of  cut- 
over  lands,  which,  before  they  can  be  made  available  for  the 
practice  of  agriculture  on  a  paying  basis,  must  have  existing 
drainage  improved.  These  areas  may  be  divided  roughly  into 
two  classes.  In  the  one  class  may  be  placed  wide  stretches  of 
low-lying  level  lands  with  poorly  developed  natural  drainage 
channels.  In  the  other  may  be  placed  rolling  and  hilly  land 
where  the  natural  drainage  is  ample — if  not  too  ample — only  the 
narrow  valleys  along  the  streams  needing  drainage. 

The  low  level  lands  are  usually  found  in  the  coastal  plain 
region  or  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  drainage  channels  of  these 
lands  are  usually  shallow,  poorly  defined. depressions  that  vary 
in  width  front  a  few  feet  to  several  miles,  and  are  generally  cov- 
ered with  stumps  and  a  heavy  growth  of  small  trees,  brush,  and 
vines.  Occasionally  there  is  a  poorly  defined  stream  channel  that 
winds  its  way  through  the  depression.  Usually,  however,  the 
water  finds  its  way  slowly  down  the  swamp  through  the  trees 
and  natural  growth  or  stands  until  it  sinks  into  the  earth  or  is 
evaporated.  Between  the  drainage  channels  are  low  ridges  which 
usually  rise  only  a  few  feet  above  the  channels.  The  first  at- 
tempts at  cultivation  are  generally  made  on  these  ridges.  Dur- 
ing periods  of  heavy  rain  the  water  rises  and  the  ridges  become 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  79 


so  wet  that  the  growing  or  cultivating  of  crops  becomes  impos- 
sible. 

The  drainage  of  these  low-lying  level  lands  can  usually  be 
accomplished  readily  by  the  construction  of  properly  designed 
drainage  improvements.    To  design  adequate  drainage  improve- 
ments the  needs  of  each  district  must  be  considered  separately. 
The  first  step  is  to  make  a  survey  of  the  lands  involved.     This 
survey  should  include  a  determination  of  the  location,  size  and 
fall  of  the  existing  drainage  channels,  the  relation  of  these  chan- 
nels to  the  area  needing  drainage,  and  the  amount  of  land  that 
will  be  drained  by  each  watercourse.    Sufficient  elevations  should 
be  secured  so  that  a  clear  idea  of  the  character  of  the  topography 
can  be  obtained.    During  the  progress  of  the  survey  notes  should 
be  made  of  the  vegetation,  the  character  of  the  soil,  and  the 
apparent  need  of  the  various  tracts  for  drainage.     After  the  sur- 
vey is  completed  a  careful  study  should  be  made  of  the  data 
secured,  of  the  existing  rainfall  records,  and  of  records  of  the 
amount   of   run-ofif    from   the   areas   in   question   or   similar   areas 
nearby  in  order  to  determine  the  amount  of  water  that  must  be 
removed  from  the  area  which  it  is  proposed  to  drain.     Upon  the   i,ow-Li}inq^ 
proper  determination  of  the  amount  of  water  that  must  be  re-   Level  Lands 
moved  depends  to  a  large  extent  the  successful  operation  of  the 
drainage  improvement.    Many  factors  affect  the  amount  of  water 
that  will  be  discharged  from  a  given  watershed.     The  principal 
factors  are :     Rainfall,  topography,  size  and  shape  of  the  water- 
shed, evaporation,  climate  and  seasons,  soil,  geological  structure, 
proportion  of  forest  and  open  land,  character  of  vegetation,  nat- 
ural reservoirs  and  artificial  improvements  affecting  drainage. 

After  the  amount  of  water  that  must  be  removed  has  been 
decided  upon  the  proper  size  of  the  ditches  can  be  readily  com- 
puted by  commonly  known  engineering  formulae.  In  general  the 
ditches  should  have  ample  depth.  For  dredge  ditches  eight  feet 
is  probably  a  minimum  depth  under  ordinary  conditions.  The 
excavated  material  should  not  be  placed  closer  than  eight  feet 
to  the  edge  of  the  ditch  and  if  the  ditch  is  very  deep  the  distance 
should  be  much  greater. 

The  drainage  ditches  should  be  so  located  that  they  can  be 
readily  reached  by  the  landowners  whose  lands  they  are  supposed 
to  benefit.  The  topography  of  the  district  and  the  character  of 
the  farm  drains  that  will  be  used  are  usually  the  deciding  factors 
in  determining  the  location  of  the  ditches. 


80 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Timber 
Removal  and 
Erosion 


I  come  now  to  the  problem  of  successfully  draining  the  nar- 
row stream  valleys  in  the  hilly  country.  This  can  be  accom- 
Hifly  Country  plished  only  by  coupling-  drainage  with  measures  to  prevent  and 
control  erosion  on  the  surrounding  hills  if  the  improvement  is 
to  be  permanent  and  satisfactory. 

When  the  rolling  and  hilly  country  in  the  entire  watershed 
was  timbered  and  in  its  natural  state,  the  drainage  system  was 
well  developed,  and  only  the  narrow  strips  of  low  lands  found 
along  the  streams  needed  drainage.  With  the  removal  of  the 
timber  on  the  hill  lands  and  attempts  at  cultivation  of  these  hills, 
the  forces  of  nature  began  to  work  and  soon  erosion  developed 
with  the  result  that  the  streams  in  the  lowlands  were  filled  with 
soil  washed  from  the  hillsides  and  the  bottoms  were  flooded  so 
frequently  that  they  were  abandoned.  A  description  of  condi- 
tions in  a  typical  area  before  drainage  will  give  you  a  clear  idea 
of  the  lands  I  have  in  mind : 

"Beginning  at  the  northern  extremity,  the  channel  is  very 
narrow  and  crooked,  though  its  general  direction  is  straight. 
The  depth  of  this  section  varies  from  one-half  to  1  foot.  Near 
its  mouth  the  stream  is  much  wider,  averaging  about  ten  to 
fifteen  feet,  and  in  a  better  condition.  The  entire  length  of  the 
stream  has  a  heavy  growth  of  brush,  trees,  and  logs. 

"Not  much  meadow  land  is  found  along  the  stream,  the 
width  between  the  hills  varying  from  about  100  feet  to  one-fourth 
mile,  being  as  much  as  one-half  mile  in  only  one  or  possibly  two 
short  strips.  Practically  all  of  this  land  has  at  one  time  been 
under  cultivation,  and  years  ago,  when  the  stream  had  a  much 
deeper  and  better  defined  channel,  large  crops  of  corn  and  hay 
were  produced.  However,  the  landowners  have  been  cultivating 
their  hill  lands  almost  entirely  with  cotton,  corn,  or  some  other 
clean  crop,  year  after  year,  giving  little  or  no  attention  to  the 
care  of  the  hillside  wash,  until  today  over  three-fourths  of  this 
low  land  is  practically  valueless.  Several  of  the  landowners 
stated  that  about  twenty-five  years  ago  the  channel  was  from 
four  to  six  feet  deep,  while  today,  except  where  improved,  it  will 
not  average  over  one  to  two  feet  in  depth,  being  filled  with  the 
hillside  wash.  Overflows  are  frequent  on  this  stream  ;  although 
some  of  them  are  quite  large,  especially  the  spring  and  summer 
freshets,  very  little  damage  can  be  done  at  present  since  none  of 
the  landowners  attempt  the  cultivation  of  this  low  land." 

How  shall  these  hilly  lands  and  narrow  lowlands  be  con- 
served? As  in  the  drainage  of  the  low-lying  lands,  so  in  the 
drainage  of  these  hill  lands,  the  first  step  is  to  make  a  survey  of 
the  stream  valley  similar  to  that  before  indicated.     Frequently 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


81 


it  is  found  advisable  to  construct  a  new  channel  which  should  be 
located  usually  down  the  middle  of  the  valley.  Rock  is  fre- 
quently found  in  these  valleys  and  hence  it  is  essential  that  ^^^^  Methods 
sufficient  borings  be  made  to  locate  any  rock  that  might  be  to  Follow 
encountered  in  constructing  the  ditches.  Experience  has  shown 
that  by  carefully  determining  the  location  and  area  of  rock  ledges 
the  ditch  can  be  so  located  as  to  avoid  them. 

The  amount  of  water  removed  by  these  streams  is  so  large 
that  it  has  not  been  found  economically  practicable  to  prevent 
entirely  the  overflow  of  the  bottom  lands.  The  amount  of  runoff 
that  must  be  provided  for  on  these  streams  is  considerably  more 
than  that  on  the  low-lying  level  areas.  Satisfactory  results  have 
been  secured  in  reclaiming  bottom  lands  draining  from  35  to  50 
square  miles  when  the  ditches  provided  for  one  inch  in  depth  in 
twenty-four  hours  over  the  entire  watershed.  On  other  streams 
a  somewhat  lower  rate  of  runoff  has  been  used  with  quite  satis- 
factory results.  The  most  important  factor  seems  to  be  to  have 
the  ditch  as  deep  as  possible  so  that  during  periods  of  low  water 
in  the  ditch  the  bottom  can  be  thoroughly  drained.  The  over- 
flows that  occur  after  the  ditch  has  been  constructed  are  usually 
of  short  duration  and  many  landowners  believe  they  are  ben- 
efited more  by  the  deposit  of  silt  on  their  lands  than  they  are 
injured. 

The  period  of  usefulness  of  ditches  constructed  in  these 
valleys  will  depend  largely  on  how  successfully  erosion  on  the 
hillsides  is  controlled.  Control  the  erosion  on  the  hillsides  and 
you  perform  a  double  function  ;  namely,  the  conservation  of  the 
fertility  of  the  hill  lands  and  the  extension  of  usefulness  of  the 
ditches  in  the  lowlands.  It  has  been  amply  demonstrated  in  this 
country  and  abroad  that  erosion  can  be  controlled  by  improved 
methods  of  agriculture  and  the  use  of  terraces.  Successful  ex- 
amples of  terracing  can  be  found  in  every  Southern  state.  Con- 
struction of  ditches  in  the  lowlands  without  proper  attention  to 
the  hillsides  means  excessive  and  frequent  maintenance  costs  if 
the  ditches  are  to  be  kept  in  good  working  condition. 

A  word  on  the  subject  of  costs.  Drainage  improvements  for 
low-lying  level  areas  range  from  $2  to  $10  per  acre.  In  the  nar- 
row valleys  the  cost  ranges  from  $15  to  $50  an  acre.  These  costs 
are  for  outlet  drainage  only  and  do  not  include  the  cost  of  drain- 
ing the  individual  tracts  or  of  terracing  the  hill  lands.  Neither 
do  these  prices  include  clearing  of  the  lands. 


Costs  of 
Drainage 


82  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

I  have  outlined  in  a  general  way  the  character  of  improve- 
ments needed  to  drain  cut-over  lands.  I  have  indicated  the  range 
of  cost  to  construct  proper  drainage  systems.  The  question 
whether  these  lands  should  be  drained  resolves  itself  into  the 
simple  business  proposition :  Will  it  pay?  To  answer  this  ques- 
tion properly  consideration  must  be  given  to  suitability  of  the 
soil  to  producing  crops  adapted  to  the  region,  transportation 
facilities,  markets,  cost  of  clearing  and  developing,  demand  for 
more  agricultural  land,  and  desirability  of  location  for  settle- 
ment. In  cases  where  drainage  is  undertaken  principally  with  a 
view  to  selling  the  lands  rather  than  to  opening  them  up  to  cul- 
tivation by  their  owners,  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  such 
settlers  have  sufficient  funds  to  clear  and  develop  the  land,  plant 
it,  and  to  provide  for  their  needs  until  they  can  realize  some- 
thing from  their  crops. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  refer  for  a  moment  to  some  sections 
where  cut-over  lands  have  been  drained  and  see  what  has  fol- 
lowed drainage.  Not  so  long  ago  from  a  landowner  in  a  200,000- 
acre  tract  of  low-lying  level  land  in  Arkansas  we  received  a 
letter  reading  in  part  as  follows :  "Many  thousand  acres  of  land 
have  gone  rapidly  into  cultivation,  with  population  and  produc- 
tion increasing  amazingly.     Many  hundreds  of  houses  and  barns 

„.  ,    „      .        have  been  built  per  annum  for  the  past  several  years.    Lands  that 
Hiqh   Produc-  .  ,-,  r  i  1.11 

tivity  of  were  m  swamps  and  timber  a  few  years  ago  have  lately  been 

Property  producing  75  to  95  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  and  this  year  $75  to 

Cut-Over  $125  worth  of  cotton  per  acre;  and  miles  of  good  roads  where 

Lands  were  swamps  and  cut-over  timber.     Certainly  our  efforts  and 

expenditures  have  been  justified  beyond  all  expectation."     On 

similar  land  in  Missouri  the  farmers  have  reported  harvesting 

28  bushels  of  winter  wheat  the  first  year  and  from  35  to  45 

bushels  of  corn.    A  few  years  ago  the  hilly  and  narrow  lowlands 

of  which  I  read  you  a  description  of  conditions  were  drained. 

Not  so  long  ago  a  landowner  in  that  section  remarked  that  the 

value  of  the  corn  crops  harvested  the  first  year  after  drainage 

was  completed  was  sufficient  to  pay  the  entire  cost  of  drainage. 

There  is  another  form  of  benefit  accruing  from  the  drainage 
of  swamp  and  cut-over  land,  which,  though  not  tangible  or  capa- 
ble of  being  expressed  in  dollars  and  cents,  should  not  be  over- 
looked. I  refer  to  the  influence  of  drainage  on  the  sanitary  con- 
ditions of  the  community.  Not  long  ago  I  was  inspecting  one  of 
the  first  drainage  ditches  to  be  constructed  in  the  Piedmont  Sec- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  83 


tion  of  North  Carolina.     While  on  this  inspection  I  chanced  to 

meet  an  old  lady  at  a  farm  house.     During  the  conversation  I 

inquired  regarding  the  health  of  the  community.    To  my  inquiry 

she  replied  with  much  satisfaction  that  for  the  past  two  or  three 

years  they  had  practically  no  sickness,  but  that  prior  to  that   f^^^p^^f^ 

time  every  summer  and  fall  they  and  all  their  neighbors   suf-   Sanitary 

fered  much  with  "chills  and  fevers."     When  I  recalled  when  the    Conditions 

drainage  was  completed,  I  found  that  the  sickness  to  which  the 

old  lady  referred  abated  just  after  the  time  the  improvements 

were  completed.    The  experience  related  is  only  in  common  with  . 

that  experienced  by  many  in  other  sections  where  cut-over  lands 

were  drained. 

From  the  benefits  which  I  have  enumerated  as  being  re- 
ceived in  certain  sections  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  inferred  that 
the  drainage  of  any  and  all  cut-over  lands  is  to  be  encouraged. 
The  soil  in  the  sections  to  which  I  refer  was  of  unquestioned 
agricultural  value  and  the  lands  seemed  to  combine  in  unusual 
degree  all  the  factors  which  I  have  previously  indicated  must 
receive  careful  preliminary  consideration  before  drainage  is  un- 
dertaken. 

In  conclusion  let  me  leave  with  you  this  parting  word : 
If  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  association  to  encourage  and  promote 
the  drainage  of  the  cut-over  lands  in  the  South,  see  to  it  that 
projects  are  undertaken  only  after  careful,  discriminating  con- 
sideration is  given  to  the  various  factors  I  have  endeavored  to 
impress  upon  you.  Remember  after  all,  if  the  drainage  of  these 
lands  is  undertaken  on  anything  other  than  a  sound  business 
basis  in  the  end  it  must  prove  a  disappointment  if  not  a  failure. 


84 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Cattle  Impor- 
tations from 
South  Amer- 
ica Opposed 


Right  Sort  of 
Colonists 
Must  Be 
Obtained 


Some  Problems  of  Cut-Over 
Land  Development 

By  Harry  D.  Wilson 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — As  I  am  a  real  hill- 
billy, born  and  raised  in  the  cut-over  section,  I  really  think  I 
kiiow  something  of  the  cut-over  proposition ;  but  before  I  start 
on  this  subject  I  want  to  say  that  I  cannot  fully  agree  with  our 
brilliant  Governor  from  Arkansas  in  reference  to  throwing  open 
the  bars  to  the  importation  of  cattle  from  Argentine  and  other 
countries.  (Applause.)  I  want  to  say,  gentlemen,  that  we  are 
fighting  day  and  night  to  get  rid  of  the  cattle  tick.  We  want  to 
get  rid  of  what  we  have,  before  we  bring  in  any  more  to  work  on. 

This  thing  at  first  glance  may  sound  all  right;  but  we  don't 
know  so  much  about  this  cattle  business.  We  want  more  good 
cattle,  but  if  we  want  to  develop  these  cut-over  lands  we  better 
go  slow  on  this  proposition.  You  know,  I  am  a  Louisiana  Demo- 
crat, and  that  means  that  we  like  toi  protect  our  agricultural  in- 
terests, and  we  are  getting  away  from  the  idea  of  free  trade.  If 
you  don't  make  the  conditions  surrounding  that  boy  and  woman 
on  the  farm  as  interesting  as  those  surrounding  the  fellow  in  the 
city  he  won't  stay.  He  can't  get  along  competing  with  negroes 
and  Japanese  raising  cattle  on  lands  that  don't  cost  anything. 
My  opinion  is  that  these  cut-over  lands  have  a  value  to  them. 

The  success  of  this  great  enterprise  that  you  gentlemen  have 
under  consideration  today  depends  absolutely  on  the  people  you 
put  on  these  cut-over  lands.  I  want  to  sound  a  note  of  warning. 
If  you  folks  bring  down  people  from  the  North  or  from  foreign 
countries  that  are  farmers,  they  will  succeed ;  but  if  you  bring 
shoemakers  and  blacksmiths  and  street  car  conductors,  the  re- 
sult will  be  disastrous ;  and  we  want  these  lands  settled  by  people 
that  will  stay. 

We  have  a  great  industry  that  I  am  particularly  interested 
in — the  sheep  industry.  We  have  not  as  many  sheep  in  the 
whole  United  States  as  we  had  forty  years  ago;  but  there  is  one 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  85 

trouble  to  that  industry,  and  that  is  the  dog.     Now,  mind  you, 

I  never  saw  a  man  who  had  a  sheep-killing  dog  in  my  life ;  but 

you  cannot  have  sheep  and  dogs  in  the  same  county  or  parish. 

The  Legislatures  have  to  take  care  of  the  dogs,  so  we  can  have 

sheep.    I  have  no  objections  to  a  dog,  but  I  do  have  objection  to 

a  dog  killing  my  sheep.     If  we  can  regulate  the  dog — there  are 

no  sheep-killing  dogs,  I  know — but  if  we  can  regulate  the  dog 

in  some  way  these  cut-over  lands  can  be;  brought  up  to  their 

.     ,.     .  Ar        J      .    1  b         f  Destroy  the 

economic  limits  at  once.     You  don  t  have  to  remove  stumps  to   cj,^z>o.i^;;/jna 

graze  sheep ;  they  will  db  your  cultivating  without  the  removal  Dqq 
of  stumps ;  but  when  you  go  out  to  plowing,  some  of  us  are  cul- 
tivating the  same  stumps  that  our  grandfathers  left.  You  have 
to  get  those  stumps  out.  because  you  can't  farm  on  it  with 
stumps.  Now,  the  question  has  often  come  to  my  mind,  since 
this  great  convention  was  advertised  for'  New  Orleans,  whether 
it  is  more  economical  for  the  large  land  owner  to  cut  those 
stumps  out  and  put  the  land  in  perfect  condition,  or  whether  it 
is  best  for  the  forty  or  sixty-acre  farmer  to  do  it.  That  is  some- 
thing for  a  man  higher  up  to  solve  than  a  common  two  by  four 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  want  to  warn  you  all  of  this :  Don't  go 
too  fast  in  some  wild-cat  scheme.  The  foundation  of  this  whole 
problem  is  to  get  people  that  will  stay — not  any  fly-by-night 
concerns.  What  we  want  is  something  permanent.  If  you  bring 
some  farmers  down  here  and  95  per  cent  of  them  go  Dack  up  North, 
they  will  tell  them  up  there  that  this  is  a  devil  of  a  country.  But 
the  best  advertisement  in  the  world  is  a  satisfied  customer. 

If  you  just  get  down  to  the  proper  ideas  of  business  methods 
you  will  find  there  is  a  world  of  virtue  in  these  cut-over  lands. 
It  is  very  susceptible  to  drainage,  and  it  is  very  susceptible  to 
any  good  treatment  you  give  it.     Soy  beans  is  one  of  its  best 
crops ;  and  soy  beans  and  velvet  beans  will  soon  put  these  lands 
where  they  will  be  just  as  fertile  and  raise  just  as  good  crops  as   Development 
these  alluvial  lands.     I  do  hope  something  tangible  and  business-    Must  Be  on 
like  will  come  from  this  great  Conference ;  and  you  can  depend   Sound  Basis 
on  the  Department  of  Agriculture  doing  everything  in  its  power 
to  back  up  and  foster  and  push  forward  every  movement.     On 
the  other  hand,  if  there  is  any  disposition  to  try  anything  not 
just  right,  and  it  comes  to  the  notice  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, we  will  put  our  stamp  of  disapproval  on  it;  for  you  can- 
not get  by  but  once  with  deception.     Now,  the  Department  of  Ag- 


86  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

riculture  will  do  anything  in  its  power  to  help  any  land  company 
develop  this  on  a  sane,  conservative  business  basis.  I  thank  you. 
(Applause.) 

The  Forage  Problem  of  the 
Coastal  Plain  Area 

By  Dr.  C.  V.  Piper 

Chief  Agrostologist,   Bureau  of  Plant   Industry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

One  of  the  joys  of  my  life  is  to  listen  to  an  ardent  Californian 
describe  the  attractions  of  his  wonderful  state.  If  he  is  a  little 
enthusiastic,  his  description  is  like  that  we  are  inclined  to  asso- 
ciate with  Paradise ;  and  he  is  not  so  very  wrong-,  after  all,  even 
if  portions  of  California  are  more  nearly  comparable  with  another 
place.  I  have  listened  to  very  many  able  addresses  in  which  the 
resources  of  the  Southland  were  described,  but  when  the  enthu- 
siastic Southerner  is  describing  the  South  he  is  never  thinking 
of  these  cut-over  pine  lands.  He  is  thinking  of  some  other  part 
of  Dixieland. 

Now,  gentlemen,  we  are  here  to  discuss  the  most  important 
large  land  problem  in  the  United  States,  certainly  the  most  im- 
portant of  possible  agricultural  lands.  I  want  to  make  it  clear 
just  what  lands  I  am  talking  about  in  my  address.  We  heard 
from  Dr.  Marbut  this  morning  as  to  the  classification  of  these 
lands.  In  the  Coastal  Plains  there  are  large  areas  of  alluvial 
and  swamp  lands,  which,  when  well  drained,  present  no  serious 
problem  to  agriculture.  There  are  other  areas  of  very  sandy 
lands  which  do  present  a  serious  problem.  Intermediate  be- 
tween these  are  large  areas  of  land  lumped  together  as  sandy 
loams,  and,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  area  we  are  discussing,  well 
drained ;  those  are  the  ones  my  remarks  will  apply  to  par- 
ticularly. If  we  can  utilize  those  lands  successfully  then  there 
will  be  ample  time  to  take  up  the  more  difficult  sandy  areas. 

Now,  gentlemen,  there  is  no  question  but  what  these  lands 
are  not  sufficiently  fertile.  If  they  were  fertile  lands  they  would 
have  been  utilized  long  ago;  but  they  have  not  been  attractive 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  87 

from  the  viewpoint  of  the  farmer.  It  is  well  known,  however, 
that  any  of  these  sandy  loam  lands,  when  well  and  judiciously 
fertilized,  will  produce  good  crops.  Under  present  economic 
conditions,  however,  no  large  body  of  these  lands  can  be  utilized 
in  that  way.  When  the  population  of  the  United  States  is 
double  what  it  is  today,  all  of  the  land  will  probably  be  developed 
into  small  productive  farms.  In  the  meantime,  what  are  we  going 
to  do  about  it? 

The  crying  need,  fundamentally,  is  to  find  in  the  near  future 
some  profitable  use  for  these  lands,  and  one  of  the  lines  along 
which  it  seems  that  use  can  be  made,  under  present  economic 
conditions,  is  the  growing  of  live  stock,  particularly  cattle  and 
sheep,  which  utilize  large  areas  of  land. 

Now,  at  the  present  time  there  is  already  a  live  stock  in- 
dustry on  these  cut-over  pine  lands.  It  is  the  live  stock  industry 
of  growing  razorback  hogs  and  piney  woods  cattle,  an  industry 
that  long  ago  reached  approximately  the  limits  of  its  practical  de- 
velopment. The  problem  is,  can  we  replace  this  type  of  industry 
by  a  more  attractive  and  more  profitable  one?  I  think  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  if  we  are  to  have  a  profitable  live  stock  in- 
dustry on  these  lands,  the  keynote  to  the  entire  subject  will  be,  More  Forage 
can  we  grow  the  forage  on  these  lands ;  and  it  is  about  the  forage  Necessary  to 
question  I  am  to  speak  this  afternoon.  Better   Cattle 

I  want  you  to  look  for  a  moment  at  the  few  maps  I  have. 
This  first  map  indicates  the  production  of  hay  and  forage  in  the 
United  States  in  1909,  according  to  the  last  census.  These  dots, 
representing  10,000  acres  each,  are  very  accurately  placed,  just  as 
accurately  as  it  is  possible  from  statistics.  Notice  where  the 
hay  and  forage  is  grown.  You  will  see  that  it  is  largely  in  the 
northeastern  quarter  of  the  United  States.  Of  course,  in  the  West 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  forage  not  shown  on  this  map.  I  refer  to 
the  native  pasture  and  range  land.  In  the  same  way,  the  native 
forage  of  the  South  is  not  indicated  on  this  map.  The  map  in- 
dicates forage  crops  only  on  cultivated  land. 

The  statistics  of  corn  are  not  included  in  the  forage,  but 
separately,  although  practically  all  the  corn  is  fed  to  animals.  All 
the  corn  is  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States ;  but  consid- 
erably more  than  half  is  in  the  northern  part  of  the  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

Now,  you  would  naturally  expect  the  distribution  of  live 
stock  to  be  correlated  to  that  forage.    Notice  on  this  second  map 


88 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Need  of 

Experiment 

Work 


Two  Methods 
to  Be  Fol- 
lowed 


vvhere  the  live  stock  is— the  great  black  area  in  that  northeastern 
quarter  of  the  United  States.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  forage 
and  live  stock  go  together. 

I  said  that  these  cut-over  pine  lands  are  not  generally  fertile, 
but  can  be  made  to  produce  large  crops.  This  is  being  done  in 
many  areas  throughout  the  Coastal  Plains  on  soils  essentially  the 
same  as  the  sandy  loam  soils  I  am  speaking  about,  but  when 
it  comes  to  growing  forage  which  is  cheap  crop,  any  large  use 
of  fertilizers  is  probably  out  of  the  question.  The  increased  fer- 
tility will  in  the  main  have  to  be  brought  about  by  indirect 
methods.  I  want  to  state  frankly  that  in  the  light  of  our  present 
knowledge  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, and  I  believe  for  any  of  the  State  Experiment  Stations, 
to  recommend  farmers  to  engage  in  the  live  stock  industry  on 
these  areas  on  these  cut-over  pine  lands.  The  reason  we  cannot 
conservatively  recommend  that  is  because  the  necessary  data 
do  not  exist.  We  have  scattered  amounts  of  data  obtained 
from  small  experiments ;  we  have  a  small  amount  of  experience 
from  practical  stockmen— but  a  very  small  amount.  In  all 
the  area  I  am  talking  about  there  is  not,  to  my  knowledge,  one 
modern  live  stock  farm  where  the  possibility  and  practicability 
of  profitably  producing  cattle  and  sheep  has  been  demonstrated. 
Without  that  demonstration  we  have  to  be  very  cautious.  While 
I  state  this  with  all  frankness,  I  want  to  add  to  it  my  own 
opinion  as  to  the  possibilities.  I  have  no  doubt  that  by  the 
judicious  use  of  the  knowledge  we  already  possess,  profitable 
cattle  and  sheep  raising  can  be  carried  on  on  these  Coastal 
Plains  sandy  loam  soils. 

If  we  do  not  already  have  this  demonstrated  knowledge 
that  I  have  mentioned — and  we  do  not  have  it — how  are  we  to 
get  it?  There  are  just  two  methods:  One  is  to  await  the  ex- 
perience of  men  patriotic  enough  to  go  into  the  cattle  or  sheep 
business.  After  the  course  of  years,  through  their  success  or 
failure,  we  will  gradually  learn  the  possibility  of  these  lands 
from  the  live  stock  point  of  view.  A  few  enterprising  men  and 
companies  have  already  gone  into  such  ventures ;  but  this  way 
of  obtaining  knowledge  is  long  and  costly,  and  usually  it  is  not 
readily  accessible  to  the  public. 

The  other  method  of  obtaining  the  knowledge  is  by  estab- 
lishing properly  equipped  live  stock  and  forage  experiment  sta- 
tions, where  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  we  ought  to  be  able  to 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  89 

tell  just  what  is  possible  on  these  lands  in  the  way  of  profitable 
live  stock  indtustry.  In  my  judgment,  this  latter  method  is  by 
far  the  better  and  more  economical. 

I  have  already  stated  that  my  own  opinion  on  this  whole 
matter  is  optimistic.  I  want  again  to  caution  you  that  opinion 
and  demonstrated  knowledge  are  two  radically  different  things. 
I  would  not  hesitate  to  give  any  man  my  opinion  but  I  would 
also  caution  him  that  it  was  my  opinion  and  that  there  was  no 
place  he  could  see  the  thing  demonstrated  at  the  present  time. 

I  want  to  go  into  some  details  as  to  the  facts  on  the  raising 

of  forage  on   these   lands  which    lead    me    to   have  optimistic 

opinions.     In  the  first  place,  various  forage  crops  can  be  grown 

profitably  on  these  lands,  and  with  a  very  moderate  amount  of 

fertilizers,  if  any.     Among  summer   crops  are  peanuts,  velvet 

beans,   beggarweed,  and   soy   beans — all   legumes.      For   winter 

crops  oats  and  rye  can  be  grown  with  a  high  degree  of  success, 

and  where  the  land  is  more  fertile  you  can  bring  in  bur  clover    . ,       ,     , 
rr.,  ,,  ■        t       r     ■  7    1      1       1         1     Abundant 

and  vetch.      Ihese  crops  all  require  the  nttmg  ot  the  land  each   p^j-f^jg  Easilu 

time  they  are  planted,  and  will  probably  repay  the  use  of  a  rel-   Grown  on 
atively  small  amount  of  fertilizer.    In  the  way  of  perennial  forage   Cut-Over 
crops  we  have  Japanese  sugar  cane,  that  will  raise  more  tonnage   Lands 
per  acre  than  any  other  crop  similar  to  it,  and  when  once  estab- 
lished it  is  good  for  from  six  to  twelve  years  without  replanting. 
It  is  an  excellent  silage  plant,  and  abundantly  repays  any  use 
of  fertilizer. 

Another  perennial  forage  crop  which  I  believe  is  going  to 
cut  a  large  figure  in  the  utilization  of  these  lands  is  the  perennial 
legume  kudzu.  At  Arlington  Farm,  we  have  been  able  to  raise  in 
each  of  the  past  three  years  over  five  tons  of  kudzu  hay  per  acre, 
double  what  we  could  get  from  cow  peas.  It  prefers  apparently 
a  clay  subsoil,  but  I  have  seen  excellent  growth  of  it  on  sandy 
loam.  Then  there  are  various  other  forages  you  can  grow  on 
these  lands  as  soon  as  you  have  built  up  the  fertility  a  little — 
corn  and  sorghums,  millets  and  various  other  plants. 

The  real  forage  difificulty  is  the  pasture  problem.  You  can- 
not conduct  profitably  any  animal  industry  on  a  large  acreage 
without  the  use  of  permanent  pasture.  Now,  the  permanent  native 
pasture  on  these  piney  woods  lands  consists  of  broom  sedge  and 
various  wiry  grasses,  which  may  be  grouped  under  the  name 
of  wire  grass.  These  grasses  furnish  very  poor  feed.  For  two  • 
or  three  months  in  the  spring  they  give  fair  pasturage ;  after  that 


90  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Types  of 
Grass  Best 
Suited 


Soiith's 
Agriculture 
Distinctively 
American 


they  are  the  poorest  type  of  pasture,  and  just  the  ordinary  type  of 
pasture  that  the  piney  woods  cattle  subsist  upon. 

There  is  one  striking  fact,  however,  in  regard  to  pastures 
in  the  piney  woods  which  can  be  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  every 
town  and  village  in  the  South,  and  that  is  that  wherever  the  town 
cattle  graze  continuously,  you  get  patches  of  very  dense  sod  con- 
sisting mainly  of  carpet  grass. 

We  know  that  heavy  grazing  is  an  important  factor  in  the 
bringing  about  of  this  type  of  pasture.  Where  the  cattle  graze 
continuously  you  have  carpet  grass,  elsewhere  broom  sedge 
and  wire  grass  persist.  Ordinarily,  it  requires  heavy  continuous 
pasturage  to  kill  out  wire  grass  and  to  secure  carpet  and  other 
desirable  pastures  grasses.  But  when  you  once  have  good  carpet 
grass  you  can  allow  it  practically  to  take  care  of  itself. 

In  it  may  come  the  growth  of  more  or  less  Bermuda,  but 
there  is  not  much  of  it  as  a  rule.  There  is  usually  a  good  deal  of 
Lespedeza,  however.  In  winter  the  pasturage  is  supplemented, 
to  some  extent,  by  Bur  clover,  and  large  quantities  of  this  can 
be  brought  in.  The  carrying  capacity  of  a  good  carpet  grass 
pasture  is  not  very  well  known,  but  it  seems  to  me  it  is  not 
much  different  from  the  blue  grass  pastures  of  the  North.  I 
i^elieve,  in  general,  a  good  carpet  grass  pasture  will  carry  one 
cow  to  about  three  acres.  The  best  blue  grass  will  carry 
one  cow  to  two  and  a  half  acres.  Your  pasture  season  for 
carpet  grass  is  much  longer  than  for  blue  grass,  and  will  be 
eight  or  nine  months  of  the  year.  In  the  light  of  our  present 
knowledge,  this  is  the  only  type  of  good  permanent  pasture 
that  you  can  look  forward  to  on  these  sandy  loam  soils.  I  may 
say,  incidentally,  that  carpet  grass  seed  is  not  a  commercial  seed, 
but  almost  any  place  in  the  South  where  you  pasture  heavily  the 
carpet  grass  will  gradually  come  in. 

In  this  connection  I  want  to  mention  one  factor  which  is  likely 
to  be  enormously  important.  Generally  speaking,  the  agriculture 
of  the  North  was  a  direct  inheritance  of  the  agriculture  of  Europe. 
The  only  important  crop  exception  is  corn.  When  you  come  to 
the  South  the  situation  is  entirely  different.  The  agriculture 
of  the  South  is  almost  entirely  American.  We  have  inher- 
ited cotton,  corn,  tobacco,  peanuts,  sweet  potatoes  from  the  Amer- 
ican Indian.  We  have  gone  to  Japan  for  the  soy  bean  and  Japan 
clover;  to  India  to  get  Bermuda  grass;  to  the  Malayan  region  to 
get  the  velvet  bean  ;  to  Africa  to  get  cow  peas  and  sorghums ;  to 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  91 

India  for  sugar  cane ;  in  other  words,  we  have  built  up  the  agri- 
culture of  the  South  from  crop  plants  we  have  obtained  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  That  is  particularly  true  of  the  forage  crops. 
Every  forage  crop  we  grow  in  the  South  is  introduced.  We  have 
been  unable  in  agriculture  to  utilize  a  single  native  plant  of  the 
South. 

When  you  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  in  existence  some 
ten  thousand  species  of  legumes,  and  four  thousand  species 
of  grasses,  it  must  be  evident  to  you  that  there  are  still 
large  possibilities  in  finding  other  valuable  forage  grasses  or 
legumes.  This  is  a  subject  which  demands  very  exhaustive 
investigation.  In  a  relatively  small  way  we  have  been  doing  this 
in  the  Department  for  years  and  with  some  success.  At  the 
present  time  we  have  under  trial  a  number  of  recently  obtained 
forages,  which  possess  various  degree  of  promise ;  and  some  of 
these,  I  am  sure,  are  going  to  make  easier  the  forage  problems 
on  the  soils  we  are  talking  about. 

I  might  mention  some  of  the  plants  that  apply  to  the  South. 
One  is  a  native  of  South-  Africa,  where  it  has  created  a  great  deal 
of  interest,  and  is  known  as  "Napier's  Fodder."  It  is  a  perennial 
grass,  growing  in  the  manner  of  sugar  cane,  and  produces  a  very 
large  amount  of  highly  palatable  feed  per  acre.  In  some  of  the 
Coastal  Plain  states  it  has  succeeded  very  well. 

We  have  also  been  investigating  very  carefully  the  dififerent 
varieties  of  Bermuda  grasses,  and  we  have  found  one  that  gives 
double  the  yield  of  ordinary  Bermuda.  Whether  that  will  be  the 
case  under  practical  pasture  conditions  remains  to  be  determined. 

I  might  mention  a  lot  of  these  legumes  and  grasses ;  but  I  will 
say  that  out  of  the  enormous  number  of  legumes  and  grasses  avail- 
able we  have  found  several  that  are  going  to  help  solve  this  forage 
problem  in  the  South.  I  stated  a  moment  ago  that  all  the  forage 
plants  we  are  growing  in  the  United  States  are  introduced.  This 
is  as  true  in  the  North  as  in  the  South.  The  pasture  plants 
throughout  that  area  are  blue  grass,  white  clover  and  red  clover — 
from  Europe.  The  hay  plants  are  timothy  and  red  clover,  from 
Europe,  and  so  on  down  the  line.  Out  of  the  enormous  agri- 
culturally unexplored  areas  of  the  earth  may  come  very  much 
more. 

But  altogether  apart  from  these  possibilities  which  lie  in  the 
future,  my  opinion,  as  I  have  stated  before,  is  pretty  optimistic. 
I  believe  that  with  our  present  knowledge  we  can  build  up  a  prof- 


92  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

itable  live  stock  industry — the  cattle  industry  I  am  thinking  of, 
particularly.  When  it  comes  to  the  hog  industry,  I  think  it  has 
already  been  demonstrated  in  these  sandy  loam  areas  that  by  the 
use  of  peanuts,  velvet  beans,  soy  beans  and  others,  you  can  con- 
duct a  profitable  hog  industry ;  but  this  is  a  relatively  intensive 
type  of  farming  as  compared  with  cattle  raising. 

The  question  has  been  brought  up  a  number  of  times  as  to 

what   extent   live   stock   farming  in   the   South,   particularly   cattle 

raising,  and  forestry,  may  be  conducted  together.    I  do  not  think, 

myself,  that  the  idea  is  very  feasible.     Over  most  of  these  sandy 

loam  soils  if  you  don't  burn  the  woods  every  year  or  so  it  comes 

Impracticable  "P  thickly  in  young  pines.     If  you  do  burn  it,  you  get  your  grounds 

to  Combine       cleared,  but  of  course,  you  burn  off  your  second  growth.     One 

Cattle  Raising   gentleman,    a    few    years    ago,    complained    about    the    number 

and  Forestry    gf  young  pines   that  grew   up  in  his  pasture,  and  he   wanted  to 

know  what  to  do.     An  expert  advised  him  that  they  were  very 

good  pasture  for  piney  woods  cattle.     He  wanted  to  know  the 

advantage  of  them.    The  expert  replied :  "Well,  you  see,  the  cows 

eat  more  or  less  of  those  young  pines,  and  the  effect  of  it  is  to 

shrink  their  stomachs,  and  therefore  there  is  less  danger  of  the 

cow  starving  to  death."     (Laughter.) 

Now,  I  want  to  recapitulate  briefly  and  emphasize  the  main 
points  of  this  problem.  So  far  as  growing  reasonably  large 
crops  of  forage  on  these  sandy  loam  soils,  using  a  judicious 
amount  of  fertilizer,  there  is  in  my  opinion  no  question.  There  is 
a  pretty  serious  problem  as  to  how  practicable  it  is  to  take  poor 
broom  sedge  and  wire  grass  pasture  and  gradually  convert  it 
into  good  carpet  grass  pasture.  I  don't  know  how  it  can  be 
speeded  up.  We  need  investigations,  very  seriously  on  that  par- 
ticular point.  We  don't  know,  after  the  carpet  grass  pasture 
is  obtained,  just  how  well  cattle  are  going  to  succeed  on  it. 
There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the  results  will  be  satis- 
factory. But  it  will  be  necessary  to  supplement  this  by  some 
other  feed.  However,  that  is  commonly  done  in  the  North  and 
other  pasturing  regions. 

I  want  to  close  by  saying  that  in  general  the  whole  situation 

of  the  live  stock  enterprise,  at  least  from  the  standpoint  of  grow- 

Confident  of     j^g  ^.j^g  forage  crops,  looks  to  me  decidedly  optimistic.     I  want  to 

"^^f\v"h^  repeat  again  that  until  we  have  demonstrated  knowledge  to  show 

C€S$  Of    w  orK        m   *  1  f  •  *  i  t     •  r  L 

this  to  be  a  fact,  we  cannot  conscientiously  advise  farmers  to 
go  into  this  thing  unless  they  understand  fully  that  certainty  of 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  93 

success  is  as  yet  unproven.  What  we  need  most,  in  order  to  get 
the  knowledge  really  required,  are  these  live  stock  and  forage  ex- 
periment stations,  which,  in  my  judgment,  present  the  simplest 
and  cheapest  plan  to  get  the  information  we  need  and  ought  to 
have.     I  thank  you.     (Applause.) 


Experiences  in  Cattle  Raising 
on  Cut-Over  Lands 

By  F.  B.  Enochs  c/Fernwood,  Miss. 

The  first  venture  we  made  in  the  cattle  business,  I  bought  a 
registered  bull  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  1913.  Before  that  I 
didn't  know  how  to  raise  any  pedigreed  animal  intelligently.  My 
endeavor  was  then  to  breed  up  some  of  my  native  cattle.  We 
bought  considerable  native  cattle  through  the  country.  We  made 
a  mistake — and  I  want  to  be  frank  with  you  on  that — we  didn't 
appreciate  the  fact  that  this  in-bred  class  of  cattle,  that  had  f  ^^^  .^^^' 
been  in-bred  for  ten  years,  of  the  dairy  type,  were  practically  g-„Wgc  of  Cat- 
run  out  and  would  give  us  poor  results ;  but  when  we  picked  tie  Selected 
the  best  of  those  and  began  to  put  pure  bred  bulls  on  them 
to  breed  them  up,  we  got  about  the  same  results  as  when 
a  man  gets  a  good  stallion  and  breeds  him.  We  have  an 
improvement.  Now,  those  calves  that  we  got,  they  had  a 
good  front  and  r^ar  end,  and  the  dairy  type  didn't  have  that. 
They  were  the  other  extreme — all  points.  We  went  into  the  cattle 
business  under  difficulties.  We  had  to  pioneer.  Certain  people  in 
this  audience  will  know  that  we  dipped  cattle  two  years  before  we 
could  get  our  county  to  vote  to  get  rid  of  the  tick,  and  we  had  to 
convince  them  that  dipping  cattle  would  not  kill  them.  After  dip- 
ping that  same  bunch  of  cattle  for  two  years  we  finally  got  a  vote 
in  our  county  of  81  per  cent  of  the  registered  voters ;  we  only  had  Tick  Elimi- 
19  per  cent  that  voted  against  it.  We  have  gotten  through  with  ^^^^^  as  a 
that  end  of  it  and  we  have  gotten  rid  of  the  tick,  as  a  result  of  the 
pioneering  we  did  in  the  early  history  of  our  cattle  endeavor.  We 
have  gotten  round  the  fact  that  we  have  been  going  in  for  pure 
bred,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  are  people  in  Mississippi  that 
have  to  be  educated  to  buying  good  bulls,  just  like  I  did;  I  didn't 


94 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Success 
Comes  With 
Knowledge 


Abundant 
Forage  Crops 
Produced 


know  any  difference  between  a  good  heifer,  even  if  she  had  a 
register  paper,  and  a  poor  heifer. 

Most  people  concede  that  you  can  take  a  human  family  of  ten 
and  you  can  find  a  black  sheep  among  them.  We  shipped  to  Okla- 
homa this  spring,  with  our  herd  of  show  cattle,  some  Herefords, 
and  they  sold  for  an  average  of  $300,  and  they  were* not  yet  breed- 
ing age.  We  sold  some  Herefords  in  Ft.  Worth,  Texas,  for  as 
high  as  $450,  not  yet  of  breeding  age.  That  is  our  pure  bred  cattle. 
At  the  this  year's  sale  in  Jackson,  Miss.,  we  sent  three  heifers  and 
one  bull  up  there  that  really  we  ought  not  to  have  sacrificed — that 
we  ought  to  have  kept.  W'e  took  them  up  there  to  help  out  the 
sale,  and  they  sold  for  from  $175  to  $195,  and  most  of  them  were 
April  calves,  1916.  Now  I  don't  know  a  man  in  Missouri  but  what 
is  willing  to  sell  a  year-old  mule  for  less  money  than  $175.  The 
disadvantage  we  were  under  was  that  we  didn't  know  the  stock 
business.  We  were  green  at  it  when  we  started  ;  as  green  as  could 
be.  Why?  We  were  lumbermen.  We  had  been  engaged  ever  since 
we  were  boys  in  running  a  sawmill  and  other  lines  of  endeavor ; 
but  the  position  we  took  was  this :  Looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  we  are  cut  out,  that  settlement  will  be  a  desert  sawmill  set- 
tlement unless  we  do  what  we  are  doing  there,  and  that  is  to  es- 
tablish the  cattle  business.  The  most  good  fortune  I  have  had  is 
to  find  a  man  who  knew  how  to  handle  that  cattle  business.  I 
spent  more  money  advertising  for  a  man  to  take  care  of  that  de- 
partment than  any  other  department.  When  I  got  a  man  from 
the  North  he  didn't  know  Southern  conditions,  labor  and  rainfall, 
lie  didn't  know  winter  conditions  here,  and  we  have  gradually 
had  to  take  those  that  came  to  us ;  but  today,  in  my  judgment,  I 
am  not  sorry  I  went  into  the  cattle  business,  and  if  the  State  of 
Mississippi  and  the  Southern  States  will  get  around  this  point  on 
these  lands — that  they  get  rid  of  this  in-bred  class  of  cattle  and 
grow  some  good  cattle  to  put  into  the  feed-pen — it  will  give  you 
some  return  for  your  feed.  The  class  of  cattle  called  the  "scrub" 
isn't  going  to  give  you  any  return  for  your  feed.  We  have 
built  silos  and  filled  them  to  the  extent  of  2,700  tons  of  ensilage 
in  one  year.  We  have  not  only  corn  ensilage,  but  we  have 
grown  as  many  as  14,000  bushels  of  oats  in  one  season.  We 
also  grow  lespedeza.  Professor  Lloyd  was  there  three  years 
ago  and  he  said  he  didn't  know  the  cut-over  hill  soils  of  South 
iMississippi  would  grow  lespedeza  after  oats.  It  was  an  enlight- 
enment to  him. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  95 

The  bur  clover  was  not  already  on  these  lands.  We  have  had 
all  the  misfits  coming  to  us  working  against  a  proposition  that 
didn't  look  good  to  a  lot  of  people,  and  yet  we  have  sold  our  calves 
at  less  than  two  years/ old  for  the  price  of  three-year-old  mules  in 
Missouri.  Under  circumstances  of  that  kind,  I  have  been  told  that 
whenever  you  try  to  make  a  man  do  something  he  don't  want  to 
do,  it  is  an  uphill  business  to  push  him  on. 

I  am  in  the  game  to  win  and  I  believe  we  are  going  to  win; 
and  I  am  a  little  disappointed  to  hear  some  of  the  discouraging 
reports  here;  because  I  was  raised  in  this  same  territory  and  I  feel 
that  a  man  can  make  a  living  here.  My  father,  a  farmer,  raised 
ten  boys  and  a  daughter  on  this  very  land  that  everybody  is  trying 
to  find  somebody  to  buy. 

Dr.  Piper:     How  many  acres  of  ranch  have  you? 

Mr.  Enochs :  About  7,000  acres.  Not  ranch — but  cut-over 
stump  lands  fenced. 

Dr.  Piper :     How  many  pure  bred  cattle  ? 

Mr.  Enochs :    One  hundred  and  thirty. 

T^      T^-  TT  •      ->  ^^"  Acres 

Dr.  Piper:     How  many  native?  Sufncient  to 

Mr.  Enochs:     Possibly  1,600.  Graze  a  Cow 

Mr.  L.  D.  Gilbert.  Texarkana,  Tex. :  How  many  acres  of 
land  are  you  using  to  graze  those? 

Mr.  Enochs :  We  are  not  grazing  as  many  cattle  as  we  did. 
We  have  about  7,000  acres  and  as  we  get  good  grade  heifers  we 
turn  common  old  cows  loose,  because  we  would  rather  have  a 
less  number  of  grades  and  breed  them,  than  to  keep  the  common 
scrub-breed  proposition. 

Mr.  Gilbert :  Are  you  running  all  of  your  cattle  on  your 
pasture  or  on  the  open  range? 

Mr.  Enochs:  W^e  don't  ever  put  them  on  the  open  range 
because  they  go  astray,  and  we  don't  get  them.  As  a  protection 
to  that  weihave  three  brands  on  them  and  keep  them  under  fence. 

Mr.  Gilbert :  How  many  of  them,  approximately,  are  you  run- 
ning on  this  7,000  acres? 

Mr.  Enochs:  Our  ownership  now  is  1,600  grades  and  130 
pure  bied,  but  we  don't  need  that  7.000  acres  for  them.  We  figure 
ten  acres  will  easily  graze  a  cow:  That  is  what  you  are  getting 
at,  isn't  it? 

Mr.  Gilbert:     Yes. 

Mr  Enochs:  We  have  grazed  a  cow  on  less  than  ten  acres, 
but  we  don't  do  it  as  against  the  extremes  of  the  season.    We  have 


96  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

had  favorable  seasons  in  which  we  have  grazed  as  low  as  five 
acres,  but  we  wouldn't  do  it  when  we  have  the  extremes  of  the 
season. 

Mr.  Gilbert :    On  a  ten-acre  basis  that  would  only  carry  700. 

Mr.  Enochs :     Well,  we  have  rented  some  of  these  grazing 
areas  that  other  people  are  not  willing  to  put  cattle  on.    You  asked 
me  how  much  we  had. 
Lespedeza  Dr.  Piper  :     You  run  ten  acres  to  the  cow  ? 

Solves  Pastiir-  Mr.  Enochs :    Yes. 

age  Problem  Y)r,  Piper:     Is  that  the  ordinary  piney  woods  pasture? 

Mr.  Enochs :    That  is  the  ordinary  piney  woods  stump  land. 

Dr.  Piper :  Is  that  pasture  improving  under  your  system  of 
pasturage  ? 

Mr.  Enochs:  Yes,  sir.  It  is  going  to  lespedeza  now.  Before 
that,  the  fires  would  destroy  the  lespedeza  and  then  we  only  had 
the  wire  grass,  but  now  the  lespedeza  is  gradually  getting  hold  of 
this  land,  and  the  cattle  graze  it  close  enough  so  there  is  little 
chance  for  broom  grass  growth. 

Dr.  Piper:     Is  the  carpet  grass  coming  in,  too? 

Mr.  Enochs :  Some,  but  not  so  much  on  hillsides.  They  do 
on  these  flat  lands  that  don't  get  the  water  off.  The  flat  lands  are 
what  we  call  top  table  lands.  We  don't  consider  we  have  made 
any  money  on  the  proposition,  but  we  were  in  the  business  pos- 
sibly three  years  before  we  saw  a  profit,  because  we  didn't  know 
the  line. 

Dr.  Piper :  How  many  acres  of  feed  are  you  growing  to  an 
animal  ? 

Mr.  Enochs :     That  is  hard  to  answer,  because  we  are  feeding 
log  teams  and  turpentine  teams  out  of  the  same  enclosures. 
Growing  Feed  ^r.  Piper :     You  are  growing  an  ample  amount,  evidently,  to 

for  the  Cattle    supplement  your  pastures? 

Mr.  Enochs :  Well,  not  in  the  sense  of  the  man  in  the  North, 
because  a  man  in  the  North  frequently,  when  a  dry  spell  comes, 
has  two  or  three  silos  of  ensilage  to  supplement  his  cattle  in  the 
summer  grass  growing  season,  when  the  hot  sultry  suns  burn  up 
the  grass.  We  have  not  gotten  around  to  the  point  that  we  have 
been  able  to  carry  everything.  We  went  most  too  heavy  on 
cattle  for  the  experience  we  have. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  97 


Soil  Improvement  Crops 

By  S.  M.  Tracy 

Agronomist,  Office  of  Forage  Crop  Investigation, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen: — Mr.  Piper  gives  a  long  list  of 
forage  crops  which  can  be  grown  successfully  and  profitably  here 
on  most  of  our  Southern  soils,  but  before  we  can  grow  those  crops 
we  must  have  something  on  which  to  grow  them.  A  good  crop  of 
grass,  of  legume,  of  corn  or  of  anything  else  has  to  have  a  foun- 
dation ;  it  has  to  have  something  on  which  to  live.  We  have 
many  good  soils  in  the  Pine  Woods  country,  but  all  soils,  wher- 
ever they  may  be  located,  can  be  improved,  but  we  must  learn 
how  we  can  make  our  poor  soils  good,  and  our  good  soils  better. 

Our  pine  soils,  as  a  rule,  are  very  deficient  in  humus.  We 
must  supply  that  first.  When  that  is  supplied  we  may  go  out  after 
much  more  profitable  crops  that  we  can  produce  on  our  cut-over 
lands.  Humus  is  the  first  essential  thing  in  soils.  We  can  add 
nitrogen,  if  you  want  to,  but  without  the  humus,  the  decayed  vege- 
table and  animal  matter,  you  are  bound  to  be  disappointed ;  you 
will  sufifer  from  drouths  and  floods  and  your  crop  will  not  be  what 
you  had  a  right  to  expect.  The  average  pile  of  bricks  has  enough 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash  for  a  good  crop.  But  you  have  to  have 
some  humus  to  hold  that  soil  in  the  condition  in  which  the  plants  Humus  Must 
can  assimilate  it.  The  soils  of  our  pine  woods  lands,  both  the  Be  Restored 
cut-over  lands  and  the  virgin  timber  lands,  contain  very  little  humus.  *^  '^^" 
They  have  been  burned  year  after  year,  generation  after  generation, 
until  the  humus  is  thoroughly  destroyed  ;  all  of  the  available  nitro- 
gen driven  off,  and  they  are  in  a  condition  where  they  produce  any- 
thing but  desirable  crops.  Every  burning  we  give  to  a  pine  woods, 
or  wild  lands  of  any  kind,  destroys  more  humus  and  nitrogen  and 
exhausts  the  soil  more  than  does  a  crop  of  corn  or  cotton.  The 
fire  is  the  most  expensive  crop  we  have.  Soil  is  far  from  being 
enriched  by  burning;  it  always  makes  it  poorer;  and  before  we 
can  get  the  crops  which  are  our  due  we  must  restore  the  humus 
to  the  soil. 

Pound  for  pound,  the  dry  matter  of  all  plants  will  produce 
about  the  same  amounts  of  humus.     So  far  as  is  known,  the  value 


98 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Taming  Wild 
Soils 


Yelvet  Bean 
the  Ideal 
Legume 


of  the  humus  is  the  same  no  matter  from  what  particular  plant  it 
may  have  been  derived.  That  being  the  case,  the  plants  which  we 
want  to  grow  for  our  humus  are  those  which  will  give  us  the  great- 
est number  of  pounds  per  acre. 

The  desirable  humus  crop  is  one  which  will  grow  rapidly  and 
make  a  heavy  yield,  which  will  decay  quickly,  and,  if  possible,  one 
which  will  not .  only  provide  humus  but  will  also  absorb  nitrogen 
from  the  air  and  so  give  us  that  most  expensive  element  in  com- 
mercial fertilizers.  This  is  the  ideal  type  of  humus  producing 
plant;  and  we  have  such  plants  in  the  legumes,  plants  which  draw 
their  nitrogen  from  the  air  and  which  are  equal  to  any  others  in 
providing  the  humus.  Mr.  Piper  said  we  had  something  over  ten 
thousand  species  of  legumes.  Out  of  this  ten  thousand  we  have 
cultivated  perhaps  a  couple  of  hundred,  so  you  see  we  have  barely 
touched  them.  They  have  an  infinite  variety.  We  have  some 
which  grow  very  large,  and  some  slender,  and  some  in  bushes  and 
some  on  vines,  and  some  are  short  straggling  plants.  Some  grow 
in  winter  and  some  in  summer.  In  that  group  we  can  get  some 
species  which  will  fit  almost  any  desired  condition  or  farm. 

It  is  a  recognized  fact  that  on  most  of  our  pine  woods  soils 
we  do  not  get  as  good  a  yield  of  corn,  or  of  cotton,  and  some  other 
crops,  the  year  in  which  the  land  is  cleared  as  we  do  a  year  or  two 
later.  The  soil  is  in  a  condition  which  has  produced  a  certain  type 
of  wild  plant  for  years,  and  it  must  be  greatly  changed  in  its  nature 
before  we  can  expect  it  to  produce  a  good  yield  of  ordinary  cul- 
tivated plants.  We  must  have  something  to  civilize  the  soil,  to  tame 
it  down,  before  we  can  expect  our  tame,  civilized  crops  to  feel  at 
home. 

We  have  one  legume  eminently  fitted  for  this — the  velvet  bean. 
It  will  do  more  than  any  other  crop  we  have  ever  had  to  smother 
the  wild  growth.  It  will  furnish  more  humus  than  we  can  get  from 
any  other  crop.  It  is  a  rank-growing  vine,  and  can  be  grown  in 
any  part  of  the  pine  woods  country.  It  has  almost  universal  possi- 
bilities, and  will  certainly  grow  in  all  of  our  cut-over  pine  region. 

It  was  in  1898  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture  first  called 
attention  to  these  beans  as  an  agricultural  product.  They  had  been 
grown  for  a  great  many  years  before  that  in  Florida  simply  as  an 
ornamental  vine ;  but  in  1898,  in  one  of  the  publications,  it  was 
mentioned  as  being  a  very  desirable  forage.  At  that  time  we  knew 
of  only  one  variety — what  is  now  known  as  the  "Florida  Velvet 
Bean."     That  is  seldom  seen  outside  of  Florida,  and  although  it 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  99 


was  frequently  planted  in  other  regions  it  didn't  become  popular 
because  they  always  had  to  send  to  Florida  to  get  the  seed. 

Twelve  years  ago  the  Department  took  up  the  matter  in  a  sys- 
tematic manner  and  began  a  careful  search  of  the  entire  world,  try- 
ing to  find  other  species  of  velvet  bean  which  would  be  more  hardy 
and  mature  earlier  and  have  other  desirable  characteristics  lacking 
in  the  Florida  bean.  Up  to  this  time  about  twenty  distinct  species 
have  been  brought  in.  Of  these,  some  hundreds  of  hybrids  and 
crosses  have  been  made  in  an  endeavor  to  combine  the  desirable 
qualities  of  the  different  species ;  and  now  we  have  an  infinite 
variety,  and  of  these  quite  a  number  of  forms  have  made  for 
themselves  a  place  in  the  agriculture  of  the  South. 

The  old  Florida  bean  was  a  vine  which  grew  pretty  high;  I 
don't  think  any  of  us  know  how  long  it  will  grow ;  it  produces  a 
small  pod  2^  to  3  inches,  with  small  mottled  seeds,  the  pod  cov-     .        .  n„  j^ 
ered   with   a   black   velvet — from   which   the   bean   took   its   name.    Development 
Until  twelve  years  ago  that  was  the  only  variety  we  had  in  culti- 
vation. 

Another  was  what  is  known  as  the  "Lyon"  bean.  The  pod, 
instead  of  being  three  inches  long,  was  nearly  six  inches  in  length ; 
the  beans,  instead  of  being  spherical  and  mottled,  were  large,  flat- 
tened ovals,  like  a  butter  bean,  only  larger.  The  pods,  instead  of 
being  covered  with  black,  velvety  pubescence,  were  covered 
with  grayish  hairs  and  of  quite  a  different  form — pointed  at  each 
end.  If  anything,  it  was  more  rank  growing  than  the  Florida 
bean,  and  produced  fully  as  heavily,  but  unfortunately  ripened 
very  little  earlier.  These  were  popular  for  two  or  three  years 
until  we  got  others  in. 

The  next  was  what  is  known  as  the  "Yokohama"  bean,  from 
Japan.  That  pod  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Lyon  bean,  a  large 
pod  with  ash  colored  or  white  seed,  the  pod  covered  with  hairy 
bristles  instead  of  velvet.  The  vine  is  rather  small.  This  ripens  in 
about  five  months  from  planting,  where  the  old  bean  took  nine  to 
ten  months. 

Following  that  came  the  "Chinese"  bean,  which  is  probably 
little  more  than  an  early  ripening  variety  of  the  Lyon  bean.  That 
ripens  in  a  hundred  and  fifty  days  from  planting. 

Then  we  have  another  one,  which  came  to  us  probably  from 
Georgia ;  it  is  called  the  "Georgia"  bean.  Some  say  it  is  a  90  and 
lOO-day  bean,  but  it  is  not ;  it  ripens  in  120  days.  The  pod  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  Florida  bean,  but  the  vine  is  much  smaller. 


100  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Best  Beans 
for  Different 
Localities 


Then  we  have  another  one  of  the  hybrids,  called  the  "Osceola" 
bean.  That  is  something  between  the  Lyon  and  the  old  Florida 
bean,  and  was  produced  by  the  Florida  Experiment  Station.  It  has 
the  black,  velvety  pod  of  the  old  Florida  bean,  but  has  a  very  much 
larger  seed ;  nearly  as  large  as  the  Lyon,  or  Chinese,  or  Yokohama. 

In  general,  the  varieties  having  the  large,  black,  velvety  pods 
have  one  characteristic  which  is  very  desirable — the  Lyon  bean,  the 
Chinese  bean  and  the  Yokohama  bean,  those  large  hairy-podded 
ones,  very  often  split  open  when  they  are  growing  on  the  vines  and 
beginning  to  get  ripe.  The  black,  velvety  pods  do  not  split  open, 
and  therefore  are  somewhat  better. 

For  the  extreme  South,  the  old  Florida  bean  and  the  Lyon 
bean  are  among  the  best  we  have.  From  here  north  to  central 
Mississippi  or  Alabama  the  more  productive  beans  are  the 
Osceola  and  the  Chinese.  Still  further  north  to  Tennessee  and 
in  Georgia  the  Yokohama  and  Georgia  beans  will  be  found  more 
satisfactory.  We  have  so  many  of  these  varieties  now  that  we  can 
find  something  which  is  suited  to  practically  every  locality  where 
velvet  beans  may  be  wanted. 

We  do  not  need  to  discuss  the  varieties  here  extensively,  be- 
cause they  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  a  bulletin  which  is  soon 
to  be  issued  by  the  Department. 

I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  this  difference  in  the  varie- 
ties, because  a  great  many  growers,  all  the  way  from  here  to 
Kentucky,  have  sent  in  orders  for  one  bushel,  five  bushels,  120 
bushels,  of  "velvet  beans,"  not  specifying  any  variety.  When  they 
are  planted  they  are  sure  to  be  disappointed.  When  the  Yoko- 
ihama  and  Georgia  varieties  are  planted  in  south  Florida  they 
waste  half  a  year".  When  you  plant  velvet  beans,  select  the  va- 
riety suited  to  your  particular  locality.  The  best  variety  for  any 
locality  is  one  which  will  continue  growing  without  stopping  to 
mature  the  seed  until  just  before  the  vines  are  to  be  killed  by 
frost.  That  day,  of  course,  is  a  little  uncertain,  but  it  can  be  ap- 
proximated for  each  locality. 

The  beans  produce  an  immense  yield.  We  have  very  little 
data  giving  specified  yields  of  hay  and  beans,  from  the  fact  that 
the  crop  is  very  rarely  cleaned  from  the  fields.  The  vine  is  long 
and  difficult  to  cut,  and  it  is  commonly  utilized  for  grazing.  The 
beans,  when  they  are  gathered,  are  gathered  by  the  hundred 
pounds ;  and  it  is  rare  that  they  are  gathered  clean,  because  when 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era  ^  101 


left  in  the  field  they  are  good  for  feed;  but  an  'afverag;^' yield 'o'f 
beans  and  vines  would  be  from  two  to  four  tons  per  acre ;  if 
they  are  good  and  dry  like  hay  that  would  be  a  good  estimate. 
The  yield  of  beans  in  the  pods  varies  all  the  way  from  three- 
quarters  of  a  ton  to  something  over  two  tons.  In  Mississippi  I 
have  known  something  over  two  tons  of  seed  per  acre  to  be 
grown. 

The  principal  use  of  the  velvet  bean,  in  addition  to  this 
humus  making,  is  for  winter  grazing.  Most  legumes,  such  as 
cow  peas,  soy  beans,  etc.,  the  leaves  break  off  very  quickly,  and 
after  dropping  they  are  decayed  and  the  whole  plant  is  worth-  p  ^  f  -.^f. 
less  in  a  few  days  after  the  first  touch  of  frost.  The  velvet  bean  f^j.  jj^^ 
is  very  tough,  though ;  and  tha  beans,  leaves  and  vines  resist 
decay  for  many  weeks  or  even  months.  Neither  do  the  beans 
decay  when  left  on  the  ground  during  the  winter.  In  fact,  in 
central  and  southern  Florida  many  varieties  retain  their  vitality 
so  completely  that  when  a  field  has  once  been  seeded  volunteer 
crops  will  follow  for  many  years,  and  even  in  southern  Missis- 
sippi this  sometimes  occurs.  The  vines  grow  much  larger  and 
seed  much  more  freely  when  they  are  supported  from  the  ground 
by  means  of  poles,  and  a  grain  of  corn  soon  develops  into  an 
efficient  and  inexpensive  pole.  Not  much  corn  may  be  secured 
from  such  a  planting  on  new  ground,  but  the  presence  of  the 
stalks  will  add  largely  to  the  yield  of  both  vines  and  beans. 
When  planted  on  old  fields  they  are  usually  planted  with  corn,   ^^^y  °^ 

nearly  all  of  which  can  be  gathered  before  the  bean  vines  are    .  , 

•'  .  .  .  tancously 

large  enough  to  cause  serious  inconvenience,  and  the  few  ears    ly/f/,  Corn 

which  will  be  missed  will  be  found  and  eaten  when  the  field  is 
grazed. 

They  are  far  superior  to  any  other  legume  which  we  could 
have  for  that  purpose.  The  quality  of  the  feed  is  excellent.  I 
have  seen  steers  sell  in  February  ready  for  the  butcher.  They  had 
no  other  feed  except  this  from  December  until  sent  to  the  butcher 
in  February.  The  most  economical  way  to  handle  the  crop  is  to 
give  the  cattle  the  first  grazing;  let  them  go  over  the  fields  and 
clean  them,  and  after  they  have  cleaned  off  the  best  of  it  the 
hogs  can  be  turned  in  and  they  will  get  about  as  much  as  the 
cattle  got.  If  the  crop  is  reserved  for  hog  pasture  it  will  give 
more  pork  than  we  can  get  from  most  any  other  crop.  I  know 
where  four  to  six  hundred  pounds  of  pork  have  been  made  per 
acre  from  this  one  crop.     I  have  known  of  some  instances  where 


102  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

the  ;yielci  of  pork  per  acre  has  been  more  than  double  that 
amount,  but  we  have  definite  records  of  over  six  hundred  pounds 
of  pork  per  acre ;  and  after  the  hogs  are  taken  off  the  field  there 
are  the  remains  of  the  vines  and  the  droppings  of  the  hogs  left 
on  the  ground  to  add  to  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

As  a  restorative  crop  for  exhausted  soils,  velvet  beans  are 
even  more  valuable  than  cow  peas,  as  they  grow  larger  and  so 
produce  more  humus  and  add  more  nitrogen  to  the  soil.  Pro- 
fessor Ross,  of  the  Alabama  Station,  shows  the  fertilizing  value 
of  a  crop  of  two  tons  of  vines  and  beans  to  have  a  value  of  about 
$55.00  per  acre,  the  valuation  being  based  on  the  present  prices 
of  commercial  fertilizers;  and  this  valuation  was  fully  justified 
in  the  increase  in  yield  of  the  crops  which  followed.  Bulletin 
120,  of  the  Alabama  Station,  says  that  following  a  crop  of  the 

_,         ,        ^       beans  on  a  sandy  soil  the  yield'  of  cotton  was  increased  18  per 
i^ccDd*  line  Tits  -'  ^  ± 

Show  Value      cent,  corn  32  per  cent,  fall-sown  oats  334  per  cent,  and  of  wheat 
of  Velvet  280  per  cent.    This  great  increase  was,  doubtless,  due  partly  to 

Beans  for  Soil  the  fertilizing  elements  contained  in  the  bean  crop,  and  partly 
Enrichment  ^q  ^)-,g  betterment  of  the  condition  of  the  soil  by  the  addition  of 
the  humus.  Station  analyses  show  that  an  ordinary  crop  of  the 
beans  will  add  as  much  plant  food  to  the  soil  as  is  contained  in 
1,400  pounds  of  cottonseed  meal,  and  that,  in  addition  to  its 
humus-making  and  other  beneficial  effects.  Every  Experiment 
Station  official  with  whom  I  have  corresponded  has  been  em- 
phatic in  stating  that  the  fertilizing  value  alone  was  worth  far 
more  than  the  entire  cost  of  growing  the  crop,  thus  leaving  its 
pasture  and  seed  value  as  clear  profit. 

This  is  the  experience  which  has  been  given  to  me  by  many 
Station  authorities  with  whom  I  have  talked.  Within  the  last 
twelve  years,  since  the  propaganda  in  favor  of  their  cultivation 
has  been  going  on,  the  increase  in  cultivation  has  been  immense. 
The  increase  in  Louisiana  is  very  great ;  I  don't  know  the  exact 
acreage. 

The  plantings  in  Mississippi  will  be  over  a  million  acres  this 
year. 

The  papers  sometimes  call  me  a  velvet  bean  crank.  Per- 
haps I  am;  but  I  hardly  know  the  difference  between  a  crank 
and  a  man  who  pushes  a  good  thing  when  he  sees  it.  I  am  push- 
ing velvet  beans.  It  is  twenty  years  since  I  planted  the  first  crop 
and  I  have  been  for  it  ever  since,  and  I  believe  it  is  the  best  crop 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  103 

we  have  for  taming  and  fertilizing  the  soil,  for  furnishing  winter 
grazing  and  for  restoring  the  fertility  to  exhausted  soil.  It  is 
undbubtedly   the   pioneer   crop    for   our   cut-over   lands.      (Ap- 

, ,  ^.  ,T  ,  •  r  ,  11  1    •       r       ^^st  Beans 

Mr.  Thompson:   What  variety  of  bean  would  you  advise  for    .  ^  ^^^  ^.^ 

Texas  ?  Texas 

Mr.  Tracy:     How  many  months  have  you  without  frost? 
Mr.  Thompson :    We  don't  have  frost  before  the  latter  part 

of  November,  until  the  last  days  in  March. 

Mr.  Tracy:     I  would  use  the  Chinese  or  the  Osceola.     The 

Osceola  is  a  little  later  than  the  Chinese — a  week  or  two. 


Need  of  Experiment  Station 
Work  on  Cut-Over  Lands 

By  W.  R.  Dodson 

Dean  of  the  State  College,  Director  of  the  Experi- 
ment Stations  of  the  State  of  Louisiana 

I  think  the  miscellaneous  discussion  indulged  in  after  Mr. 
Piper's  address  justifies  me  in  the  assertion  that  we  have  en- 
tirely inadequate  information  as  to  what  can  be  done  on  these 
lands  in  a  definite,  specific  way  to  tell  the  average  inquirer 
what  he  might  expect  us  to  know.  I  don't  know  but  one  way 
to  get  that  information,  and  that  is  to  get  the  experiment  sta- 
tions to  do  these  things  over  a  series  of  years  to  get  the  aver- 
age conditions  and  make  the  average  deduction  from  it. 

I  was  just  thinking,  when  we  were  talking  about  this  ques- 
tion, suppose  they  had  been  in  the  very  definite  form  of  ques- 
tions, and  we  had  said  to  some  of  these  gentlemen :  How  many 
tons  of  velvet  beans  can  you  expect  to  gain,  as  an  average,  on 

the  long  leaf  yellow  pine  cut-over  lands?     How  much  cow  pea   Exact  Knowl- 

edae  \\hat  Is 
hay  can  you  expect?    How  many  tons  of  beef  can  you  make  on    r^^n.'n^ 

:in  acre  of  land  an  average  year,  and  how  much  will  it  cost  you? 
How  many  pounds  of  pork  can  you  make  on  an  average  acre  of 
land  on  an  average  season  in  the  general  type  of  long  leaf  and 
short  leaf  yellow  pine  region?  And  I  don't  believe  you  could  an- 
swer those  questions,  because  you  don't  know.    The  only  way  1 


104  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

know  of  to  get  that  information  is  to  try  it  and  see ;  and  the 
people  that  are  best  equipped  to  get  reliable  information  of  this 
kind  are  people  that  have  no  land  to  sell,  that  have  no  personal 
interest  in  the  results  that  are  to  come  from  those  experiments, 
so  that  they  can  be  uninfluenced  as  to  whether  the  results  are 
favorable  or  unfavorable ;  and  there  will  be  no  temptation  to 
look  to  the  good  results  with  a  magnifying  eye,  and  the  bad  re- 
sults in  a  diminished  estimate,  so  that  the  whole  truth,  by  an 
unprejudiced,  disinterested  party,  can  go  into  things  of  this 
Federal  and  kind ;  and  that  means  somebody  maintained  either  by  the  Fed- 
State  Co-oper-  ^^^^  ^^  state  funds,  or  by  funds  that  may  be  subscribed  to  by 
interested  people;  but  the  best  way,  I  think,  is  the  basis  on  which 
we  have  worked  it  out  for  other  experiments,  by  Federal  and 
state  support — so  that  these  men  will  not  be  under  obligations 
to  anybody.  They  should  not  be  censored  as  to  what  they  shall 
say  or  can  keep  from  saying  about  their  results. 

I  believe  there  is  a  great  future  for  these  lands.  This  is  the 
first  effort  I  know  of  where  we  have  had  represented  in  confer- 
ence so  much  talent,  men  that  are  deeply  interested  in  the  out- 
come ;  where  the  Government  representatives  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  the  Colleges  of  Agriculture,  the  State  Depart- 
ments of  Agriculture,  the  land  owners  and  the  railroads  and  the 
bankers,  all  of  these  people  who  would  be  materially  affected, 
both  in  a  material  way  and  in  the  advancement  of  the  public 
welfare,  have  tried  to  put  their  heads  together. 

Now,  let  us  not  be  deceived  by  trying  to  take  short-cut 
methods.  Let  us  be  candid  with  one  another,  and  with  the 
prospective  farm  owners,  and  let  them  see  that  we  are  going 
to  solve  these  questions.  Enough  has  been  tried  to  make  the 
outlook  very  encouraging.  Enough  information  has  been 
brought  out  to  show  that  there  is  a  lot  more  to  do ;  that  this 
is  not  plain  sailing ;  and  that  if  everything  was  known  that  the 
men  want  to  know  you  would  not  be  here  today.  The  fact 
that  some  of  your  lands  have  been  offered  and  have  not  been 
taken  is  an  indication  that  you  are  not  able  to  tell  the  pros- 
pective purchasers  what  they  want  to  know.  They  are  not 
going  to  listen  to  you  very  well  until  you  are  able  to  tell 
them,  and  then  be  able  to  stand  by  your  statements.  Until 
we  have  the  information  that  will  enable  us  to  look  a  man  square 
in  the  eye  and  tell  him  with  a  clear  conscience  that  he  can  do 
this,  and  he  can  expect  so  and  so,  and  here  are  the  difficulties 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  105 

to  be  overcome,  and  give  him  a  frank  statement  of  what  he  might 
expect,  you  will  not  get  very  much  development  or  utilization 
of  these  lands;  but  when  you  are  able  to  do  that,  and  you  can 
tell  by  experience  and'  facts  that  the  land  might  do  this  or  that, 
you  will  do  well  in  selling  lands. 

In  formulating  your  plans  I  hope  you  will  lay  a  broad  foun- 
dation ;  work  out  a  plan  by  which  the  men  that  are  permanently 
in  this  kind  of  work  may  correlate  their  efforts  with  the  Federal 
authorities  and  state  authorities  and  the  people  who  have  their 
money  in  the  land,  so  they  can  work  together  on  a  permanent 
basis.  Until  we  make  such  arrangements  we  will  work  with  a 
dissipation  of  our  energies  and  loss  of  money  and  time;  and  so, 
in  formulating  your  plans  I  hope  you  will  make  ample  provision  Much  Prelim- 
for  experimental  data  to  be  obtained  by  impartial  men,  to  extend  ^^^^^U  Work 
over  a  sufficient  period  to  eliminate  great  variations  in  seasons,  '  ^c^ssary 
so  that  due  attention  will  be  given  to  selecting  original  areas 
that  will  be  as  typical  of  large  areas  as  possible ;  that  that  infor- 
mation shall  be  given  without  restriction  and  without  limitations 
to  those  that  will  be  interested  in  it;  that  it  will  be  financed 
on  a  basis  that  will  not  make  anybody  feel  under  obligations  to 
keep  something  back.  I  believe  when  we  do  that  we  will  work 
out  a  plan  by  which  these  lands  will  offer  very  attractive  propo- 
sitions for  a  great  many  people. 

I  only  want  to  giv.e  you  one  illustration  of  what  I  mean.   We 

have  been  talking  today  about  rich  lands  and  poor  lands.    Rich 

land  and  poor  land  are  simply  relative  terms.    We  say  poor  land 

when   we  arei  thinking  about  the  production  of  cotton,   and   it 

means  one  thing;  and  we  say  poor  land  when  we  think  of  the 

production  of  sweet  potatoes,  and  it  means  another  thing.     If  I 

were  to  go  to  Alexandria,  for  instance,  which  is  on  the  border   ,,_       „  ,      ^ 
,.  r    1      1  1     r     •  ,   T  1  Poor    Lands 

Ime  of  the  long  leaf  pme  country  and  I  wanted  to  grow  corn  ^^^  "Rich" 

on  the  north  and  the  alluvial  land  on  the  south,  and  I  would   Lands 

say,  "Which  is  the  best  land,  over  there  on  the  hills  or  over  here 

in  the  bottoms"  and  everybody  would  say,  "Over  here  in  the 

bottoms;  you  can't  grow  any  corn  on  hilly  land."    But  suppose 

I  wanted  to  raise  sweet  potatoes,  and  I  ask,  "Where  can  I  raise 

the  best  sweet  potatoes — ^over  here  in  the  sandy  loams  or  over 

there  in  the  Red  River  bottom  land,"  and  the  man  would  say, 

"You  can  raise  much  better  potatoes  on  the  hill  land  than  you  can 

on  the  stiff  soils,"  and  therefore  that  pine  land  is  richer  for  you 

than  the  Red  River  bottom.    That  is  simply  an  illustration  of  the 


106  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

indefinite  meaning  of  the  terms  in  which  we  speak.  I  hope  you 
will  go  ahead  and  keep  this  work  up  until  this  problem  of  gaining 
adequate  information  regarding  the  cut-over  pine  lands  is 
solved. 

Mississippi's  Part  in  Cut-Over 
Land  Development 

By  Dr.  E.  R.  Lloyd 

Director  of  Experiment  Stations  of  the  State  of 
Mississippi 

I  have  been  somewhat  amused  at  the  apparent  incompatibility 
between  Dr.  Piper's  ideas  of  the  cut-over  land  and  the  ideas  of  the 
other  gentlemen.  It  seems  to  me  that  Dr.  Piper  was  talking  about 
one  type  of  cut-over  land  and  the  other  gentlemen  were  talking 
about  another  type,  and  both  correct  from  their  different  points  of 
view. 

We  have  a  vast  deal  of  cut-over  land  in  Mississippi  which  is 
really  splendid  agricultural  land.  We  also  have  a  great  deal  of 
cut-over  land  in  Mississippi  which  is  hardly  worth  while  as  agri- 
cultural land,  and  Dr.  Piper  was  entirely  correct  w4ien  he  said  that 
on  this  poorer  type  of  soil  we  cannot  grow  very  much  of  a  crop 
and  to  make  a  good  pasture  will  be  both  difficult  and  expensive. 
While  on  the  better  type,  which  has  a  good  red-clay  subsoil,  we 
can  grew  many  profitable  field  crops  besides  lespedeza  and  Ber- 
muda for  pasture. 

In  developing  this  cut-over  territory  it  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, that  the  -first  thing  to  be  done,  so  far  as  Mississippi  is  con- 
cerned, is  to  repeal  some  legislation  we  already  have.  These  lands 
will   never  be   developed   through   individual   effort ;   they   will   be 

,^.   .        ,      .      developed  by  corporations  with  money ;  but  so  long  as  we  have  such 
Vicious  Legis-  .  ^  /        ,      i  i  ,         ,  ,      , 

lation  Retards  °"  °^^  statute  books  as  we  have  today,  these  cut-over  lands 

Development     ^^^  "Ot  going  to  be  developed  very  rapidly.     And  it  seems  to  me 

with  an  organization  made  up  of  some  of  the  best  business  men  of 

the  country  something  might  be  done  if  the  proper  effort  was  made 

to  repeal  the  vicious  laws  which  now  retard  progress  in  the  state's 

development.     We  desire  to  see  these  lands  developed  on  a  per- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


107 


manent  rather  than  on  a  speculative  basis.  One  of  the  serious 
troubles  with  Southern  agriculture  today  is  its  unstable  character. 
If  some  practical  plan  could  be  worked  out  by  which  agriculture  in 
all  its  phases  could  be  stabilized  and  conducted  on  a  safe  and  sane 
basis,  it  would  be  the  most  profitable  business  for  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  our  people  to  engage  in. 

When  the  cut-over  lands  are  developed  it  wnll  necessarily  be 
on  rather  a  large  scale,  and  live  stock  offers  perhaps  the  safest  re- 
turns, since  with  live  stock  we  can  handle  the  maximum  amount 
of  land  with  the  minimum  amount  of  labor,  while  with  crops  the 
conditions  are  reversed. 

We  are  working  in  a  small  way  through  our  Extension  De- 
partment of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Mississippi  and  our 
Branch  Experiment  Station  at  McNeill  in  Pearl  River  Coun- 
ty with  the  small  farmers  in  the  cut-over  territory.  Our  purpose 
is  to  help  them  develop  their  small  farms  on  a  permanent  basis  by 
combining  live  stock  with  crops. 

The  plan  we  suggest  is  for* each  small  farmer  to  have  five  dairy 
cows,  two  brood  sows,  twenty-five  sheep,  twenty-five  head  of  poul- 
try, and  then  plan  his  crops  so  that  feed  enough  to  carry  all  live 
stock  will  be  produced,  with  a  small  surplus  for  sale.  The  bankers 
and  business  organizations  in  many  counties  have  agreed  to 
finance  these  small  farmers,  and  our  demonstration  agents  will 
help  plan  his  crop  rotations  and  teach  him  the  best  methods  of 
handling  his  live  stock  as  well  as  assist  him  in  marketing  his  sur- 
plus products. 

We  do  not  expect  very  large  areas  of  this  cut-over  land  to  be 
converted  into  small  farms  immediately,  but  we  think  this  a  begin- 
ning in  the  right  direction. 

In  the  past  the  absence  of  cheap  money  and  long-time  loans 
prevented  many  from  going  on  the  farm,  but  since  the  passage  of 
the  Federal  Farm  Loan  Act  we  find  the  interest  in  farming  increas- 
ing. While  I  consider  the  passage  of  the  Federal  Farm  Loan  Act 
one  of  the  most  constructive  pieces  of  legislation  passed  in  recent 
years,  I  also  think  that  cheap  money  is  a  menace  to  th°  masses. 
Cheap  money  on  long-time  payments  is  very  alluring,  and  1  fear 
too  many  will  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  borrow  money 
without  having  first  carefully  worked  out  plans  for  its  safe  invest- 
ment. I  think  every  man  who  borrows  money  should  be  required 
to  submit  in  writing  a  carefully  thought  out  plan  for  spending  the 
money  and  have  this  plan  approved  by  a  competent  committee. 


Financing  the 

Small 

Farmer 


The  Good  and 
Evil  in  Cheap 
Money 


108  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

What  Georgia  Is   Doing  to 

Encourage  fhe  Utilizing  of 

Cut-Over  Lands 

By  John  R.  Fain 

Agronomist  of  the  College  of  Agriculture   of   the 
State  of  Georgia 

Gentlemen,  I  am  with  you  today  because  President  Soule,  of 
our  institution,  was  detained  at  home  on  account  of  a  campaign 
we  are  carrying  on  in  Georgia  at  this  time.  He  asked  me  to  ex- 
press to  you  his  regret  at  not  being  able  to  be  present. 

I  would  like  to  say  to  you  that  our  institution  is  represented 
because  we  thought  this  was  one  of  the  big  constructive  pieces 
of  work  being  undertaken  in  the  Southern  states.  I  will  try  to 
present  to  you  as  briefly  as  I  can  some  of  the  things  that  the 
College  of  Agriculture  is  trying  to  help  in  development. 

We  fancy  that  the  College  of  Agriculture  should  be  some- 
thing of  a  clearing  house  for  information  for  the  people  of  the 
state,  and  that  we  should  get  together  that  information  for  them 
and  be  able  to  present  it  to  them,  and  we  bring  it  to  your  atten- 
tion as  some  of  the  work  we  are  trying  to  do.  Therefore,  I  am 
going  to  use  a  few  charts  I  have  here  for  this  purpose. 

These  figures  were  compiled  from  census  reports  and  from 

estimates  by  President  Soule.     I  am  not  going  to  take  your  time 

up  to  any  great  extent.     We  have  a  considerable  number  of  live 

Better  Grades    stock  in  the  South  ;  but  the  principal  trouble  is  its  quality  and 

of  Cattle  low  value ;   and   I    might   use   these   figures   from   the    State   of 

Needed  in  Georgia.     I  will  say  that  in  the  fifteen  Southern  states,  in  the 

six  years  from  1910  to  1916,  the  beef  cattle  decreased  something 

like  three-quarters  of  a  million.    It  struck  me,  in  listening  to  the 

discussion;  yesterday,  that  a  great  many  of  those   cattle   could 

have  been  maintained  on  some  of  the  seventy-odd  million  acres 

of  land  in  this  country. 

Now,  outside  of  the  quality  there  is  another  factor,  and  that 
is  loss  from  disease  and  exposure  in  these  Southern  states. 
Take  the  state  of  Georgia.    We  believe  in  presenting  to  the  peo- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  109 

pie  the  actual  conditions.     We  think  that  because  we  sometimes 
have  a  mild  climate  that  the  loss  doesn't  amount  to  anything. 
Run  down  that  column :     Loss  from  disease,  cattle,  25  per  thou- 
sand;  from  exposure,  25  per  thousand;  sheep,  from  disease,  31   Losses  from 
per  thousand;  from  exposure,  31  per  thousand;  swine,  from  dis-  L/is ease  ana 

EoCT)OSllI*€ 

ease,  71  per  thousand.  These  are  the  figures  from  the  North 
Atlantic  states,  much  lower  than  from  Georgia.  If  we  are  going" 
to  do  anything  with  the  live  stock  business,  we  must  reduce  that 
rate  of  loss. 

This  is  the  status  of  the  live  stock  industry  in  Georgia, 
showing  there  has  been  a  decided  increase  in  number  in  our 
state.  The  large  increase  there  is  from  hogs.  The  increase  from 
the  other  animals  does  not  amount  to  very  much. 

Now,  as  to  the  replacement,  taking  the  state  of  Georgia : 
The  average  of  horses  and  mules  compares  very  favorably  with 
the  average  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  but,  unfortunately,  those 
are  the  things  we  buy.  We  buy  most  of  our  horses  and  mules; 
we  do  not  raise  them.  The  average  value  of  our  cattle  is  $16.20 
as  against  $35.88  in  the  rest  of  the  country;  sheep,  our  value  is 
$2.80  as  against  $7.14;  swine,  $9.00  as  against  $11.73. 

Another  line  of  work  we  are  trying  to  carry  on  is  something 
of  the  food  problem.  Here  we  havei  three  foodstuffs :  Silage 
and  cottonseed  meal  give  the  greatest  production  of  butter.  This 
year  we  are  trying  out  cottonseed  meal,  peanut  meal  and  velvet 
bean  for  dairy  cattle,  to  be  presented  to  the  people  another  year. 

This  chart  indicates  something  of  the  relative  number  of  the 
blooded  cows  and  the  good  cows  that  will  be  required  to  make 
the  same  profit.  We  have  good  dairy  cows  that  make  as  much  One  Good 
profit  as  41  of  our  average  dairy  cows  in  the  state.  Another 
condition  we  are  up  against  is  the  relative  food  value  of  differ- 
ent crops  that  we  can  grow. 

Now,  as  to  the  question  of  what  we  can  do  with  live  stock. 
This  is  in  the  Coastal  Plain  region.  This  is  a  statement  of  the 
value  of  live  stock  at  the  Agricultural  College.  They  started  in 
September,  1907,  with  $1,917  worth  of  live  stock.  They  have 
spent  from  that  time  up  to  June  1,  1916,  over  $9,000.  The  value 
of  live  stock  in  June,  1916,  was  $17,000.  Here  is  an  item  I  call 
your  attention  to :  For  the  purchase  of  live  stock  we  spent  over 
a  thousand  dollars  a  year,  with  sales  of  live  stock  to  June,  1916, 
amounting  to  $14,000.     The  average  increase   in   the   inventory 


Cow  Worth 
4?  Poor  Ones 


110 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Best  Silage 
Foods  for 
Coastal  Plain 
States 


Experiments 
With  Grasses 


has  amounted  to  about  $1,700.    So  far  it  has  been  a  pretty  good 
financial  proposition. 

Now,  as  to  the  work  of  the  College  in  taking  it  to  the  people : 
This  is  a  summary  of  the  work  by  the  county  agents.  Our 
county  agents  have  inoculated  hogs  and  cattle  for  cholera  to  the 
number  of  about  65,000.  The  pure  bred  animals  purchased 
through  the  county  agents  and  the  specialists  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  who  are  co-operating  with  these  men,  has 
amounted  in  the  past  year  to  over  7,000  head  brought  into  the 
state ;  and  that  is  where  we  are  trying  to  correct  the  low  valua- 
tion in  live  stock. 

Now,  in  regard  to  the  food  proposition :  We  have  been  ad- 
vocating the  building  of  silos  over  the  state  of  Georgia,  and  we 
are  advocating,  as  a  crop  for  the  Coastal  Plain,  a  mixture  of 
kaffir  corn  and  sorghum.  We  have  suggested  the  red  head 
sorghum  and  the  black  kaffir  corn. 

The  silage  and  velvet  bean,  we  believe,  solves  the  problem 
of  carrying  the  animal  in  the  Coastal  Plain  region  at  least 
through  the  winter  months.  The  problem,  as  we  see  it,  is  that 
it  is  a  limiting  factor  in  cattle  production  in  the  Coastal  Plain 
region,  and  it  is  a  limiting  factor  especially  in  the  months  of 
July,  August  and  September.  Now,  if  we  can  solve  that  prob- 
lem- I  believe  we  can  help  establish  on  a  permanent  basis  the 
cattle  business  of  the  South. 

We  started  out  to  make  an  inventory  of  what  we  had  and 
what  could  be  utilized,  and  we  have  a  young  man  who  is  spend- 
ing part  of  his  time  studying  the  growth  of  the  Coastal  Plain 
section ;  and,  incidentally,  there  we  found  one  man  who  had 
been  for  the  past  fifteen  years  utilizing  a  pasture  of  grass  and 
lespedeza  with  apparently  pretty  good  success.  That  probably 
will  not  be  adopted  except  in  a  limited  area,  but  in  that  area  it 
might  be  a  solution  of  the  problem.  At  the  present  time  we  are 
recommending  the  carpet  grass,  as  Dr.  Piper  suggested.  The 
only  two  grasses  we  have  found,  of  the  ordinary  tame  grasses, 
that  justify  continuous  work  with  them  is  the  red  top  and 
meadow  grass.  In  one  case  we  have  gotten  good  results  from 
work  of  that  kind. 

We  have  two  areas  in  the  Coastal  Plain  in  which  we  are 
trying  to  study  in  a  similar  way  the  forage  crop  situation  for 
that  section  of  the  state,  and  we  hope  before  a  great  while  to  be 
able  to  increase  this  and  to  do  more  work. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  111 

Now,  just  a  word  on  a  proposition  that  was  brought  up  here 
yesterday,  and  that  was  the  size  of  farm  that  is  going  to  be  profit- 
able on  these  cut-over  lands.  We  had  submitted  to  us  not  a 
great  while  ago  a  plan  to  buy  some  of  this  cut-over  land,  fence 
it  off  in  forty-acre  tracts,  build  a  barn  and  house,  and  sell  it  to 
prospective  settlers,  and  they  asked  our  opinion  on  it.  That  let- 
ter was  referred  to  me  to  answer,  and  I  answered  it  in  this  way : 
"We  have  made  a  survey  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  which 
showed  that  the  men  who  were  cultivating  fifty  acres  or  less  had 
a  labor  income  of  about  $200.  The  men  cultivating  200  acres 
had  an  income  of  between  $600  and  $700.  Would  you  rather 
take  a  chance  of  getting  your  money  back  from  the  man  who 
made  $200  or  the  man  who  got  $600  or  $700?" 

We  are  also  co-operating  with  the  railroads  in  developing  a 

few  farms  along  their  line  of  route  where  their  scheme  is  this : 

The  railroads  go  to  this  man  and  say,  if  vou  will  follow  our  in-   ^ 

•11  ■       "i  ^^r^r^      -r-i         CO'Operatiiig 

structions  we  will  guarantee  you  agamst  loss  up  to  $200.     ihey   ii/.wj,  tu^ 

come  to  the  College  and  ask  us  to  outline  the  work,  and  that  is  Bailroads 

being  carried  on  under  the  supervision  of  one  of  the  graduates 

of  the  College  and  is  paid  for  by  the  railroads.     This  work  has 

just  begun,  and  we  hope  in  a  year  or  so  to  have  several  more  of 

these  farms. 

It  might  be  of  some  interest  to  you  to  know  what  some  of 
the  men  grazing  this  cut-over  land  are  making.  We  have  a  rec- 
ord of  one  man  who  is  cultivating  750  acres.  He  is  renting,  in 
addition,  1,000  acres  of  cut-over*  land  for  pasture.  His  record 
showed  a  labor  income  of  $6,000,  36  per  cent  of  that  coming 
from  his  live  stock.  By  gathering  information  of  that  kind  the 
College  hopes  to  be,  in  a  way,  of  some  help  in  this  development. 
(Applause.) 


112 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Nation  De- 
mands More 
Meat  Produc- 
tion 


Beef  Cattle  and  Hogs 

By  George  M.  Rommel 

Chief,  Animal  Husbandry  Division,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  question  of  meat  production  in  the 
South  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions  which  the  nation 
has  before  it  today.  I  will  not  burden  you  with  a  great  many 
tiresome  statistics,  but  I  want  to  point  out  a  few  of  the  high 
lights  of  our  meat  trade  at  the  present  time.  In  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1914,  we  exported  less  than  seven  million  pounds 
of  fresh  beef.  In  the  next  fiscal  year  we  exported  over  170  mil- 
lion pounds  of  fresh  beef;  and  in  the  last  fiscal  year  over  231 
million  pounds ;  the  value  of  our  meat  exports  in  these  years  grew 
from  143  milhon  dollars  in  1914  to  266  million  dollars  in  1916.  In 
the  fiscal  year  1914  we  imported  a  normal  amount  of  wool — ^245 
million  pounds.  In  the  fiscal  year  1916  we  imported  525  milhon 
pounds.  Furthermore,  I  am  told,  not  officially,  that  the  meat 
ration  of  a  soldier  in  the  trenches  in  Europe  is  ten  ounces  per  day. 
There  are  something  in  the  neighborhood  of  25  million  soldiers  in 
that  section  being  fed  better  than  they  were  ever  fed  before  in  their 
lives.  The  United  States  is  already  planning  to  put  an  army  of  two 
million  men  in  the  field,  all  of  whom  will  be  fed  as  well,  if  not 
better,  than  the  armies  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  This  enormous 
increase  in  our  meat  exports  and  in  our  wool  imports  has  largely 
been  brought  about  by  the  demands  of  warfare,  and  I  candidly  say 
to  you,  is  there  any  problem  which  could  more  earnestly  engage 
our  attention  than  the  question  of  how  to  meet  this  demand  with- 
out starving  the  civilian  population  and  allowing  them  to  go  with- 
out proper  food  and  clothing? 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  come  to  the  question  of  beef  production, 
and  in  approaching  this  question  I  wish  to  make  my  position 
exactly  clear  so  that  what  I  will  have  to  say  will  not  be  misun- 
derstood. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  great  many  of  the  speakers  who  have 
been  discussing  the  question  of  the  utilization  of  these  cut-over 
lands  have  been  thinking  on  too  small  a  scale.  I  make  that  state- 
ment in  no  spirit  of  criticism,  but  as  a  statement  of  fact.  If 
there  is  one  thiog,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  which  this  convention  has 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


113 


been  remarkable,  it  is  the  seriousness,  the  earnestness  of  discus- 
sion and  the  directness  with  which  the  speakers  have  approached 
the  point.  We  have  had  an  unusual  absence  of  whatl  we  are 
pleased  to  call  "hot  air."  Now,  at  the  risk  of  offending  in  this 
very  respect,  I  wish  to  indulge  in  a  few  figures.  The  acreage, 
as  generally  agreed  upon,  is  76  million  acres  of  cut-over  timber 
lands  on  the  Coastal  Plain  and  contiguous  territories.  That 
doesn't  mean  much  to  me,  because  I  can't  think  in  millions ; 
some  men  can,  but  I  can't.  But  when  I  ran  through  a  table 
showing  the  acreage  of  the  states  in  the  South  I  was  staggered. 
Do  you  realize  that  that  acreage  is  half  the  acreage  of  the  entire 
state  of  Texas?  Do  you  realize  you  can  take  the  entire  state  of 
Florida,  add  the  state  of  Georgia  and  take  a  chunk  out  of  South 
Carolina,  and  you  would  have  an  acreage  representing  the  acre- 
age of  these  cut-over  lands?  Furthermore,  your  secretary  told  me 
at  lunch  today  that  that  acreage  is  being  added  to  at  the  rate  of 
10  million  acres  a  year,  and  that  ultimately  we  will  have  added  to 
the  76  million  acres  which  we  now  have  an  acreage  of  250  million 
acres,  a  total  that  is  larger,  gentlemen,  than  the  present  unallotted, 
unused,  unassigned,  undeveloped  acreage  of  the  public  range  in 
the  West ;  an  empire,  if  you  please,  in  extent ;  in  area  equal  to 
almost  any  ten  of  your  Southern  states;  and  nothing  is  being 
done  with  it.  Now,  this  Conference,  as  I  understand  it,  has 
been  called  to  consider  a  constructive  plan  of  development.  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  appreciate  what  Dean  Dodson  said 
on  this  subject — when  a  man  who  stands  as  he  does  in  the  state 
and  nation  stands  before  you  and  tells  you  what  he  told  you, 
then  any  damn  Yankee  that  comes  down  from  the  North  can  feel 
pretty  safe  in  taking  such  a  position.     (Applause.) 

I  grant  you,  gentlemen,  the  correctness  of  the  position  set 
forth  in  that  splendid  paper  written  by  Mr.  Graves,  the  Chief 
Forester  of  the  United  States.  This  problem  has  three  phases — 
reforestation,  grazing  and  agriculture.  What  is  being  done  now 
in  reforestation?  You  know  better  than  I  do.  What  can  be 
done  in  agriculture?  The  statement  has  been  made  here,  uncon- 
tradicted, that  only  15  million  acres — only  one-fifth  of  the  present 
available  area — are  suitable  for  agricultural  development  at  the 
present  time.  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  other  four- 
fifths?  You  are  not  reforesting  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  leaves  it 
open  to  either  one  of  the  three  possibilities,  straight  farming, 
cattle  raising  or  sheep  raising. 


Cut-Over 
Lands    Cover 
on  Empire 


Cut-Over  Area 
Increasing 
Ten  Million 
Acres  a  Year 


Wliat  Shall 
We   Do    Witli 
It? 


114 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era 


Where  Agri- 
culture is  Im- 
practicable 


Live  Stock 
Raising  Will 
Solve 
Problem 


Now  furthermore,  just  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  suppose 
that  the  entire  76  million  acres  were  available  for  agriculture, 
and  suppose  that  we  tried  to  get  into  effect  that  splendid  ideal 
of  the  government's  public  land  policy — a  family  on  each  forty 
acres  and  each  family  supporting  itself — suppose  you  could 
realize  that  ideal.  Dividing  the  76  million  by  40  acres  leaves  you 
1,875,000  tracts,  and  will  anyone  tell  you  where  we  will  get  1,- 
875,000  families  to  settle  this  land  on  a  forty  acre  basis?  It 
would  be  impossible.  This  problem  is  now.  We  can't  look 
25  or  50  years  hence  when  we  may  have  a  surplus  of  farmers. 
Furthermore,  we  can't  go  to  the  cities  and  bring  men  from  the 
cities  to  settle  on  these  lands. 

That  brings  me  to  another  point :  If  there  is  one  thing  that 
the  United  States  is  going  to  learn  from  its  entrance  into  the  war 
it  is  that  we  are  no  longer  provincial ;  we  are  coming  to  learn 
that  we  have  an  obligation  owing  not  only  to  our  neighbors  in 
our  country,  but  that  we  owe  an  obligation  to  the  world  itself. 
We  are  coming  to  learn  that  we  cannot  take  from  another  without 
giving  something  in  return.  We  are  not  getting  any  more  immi- 
gration ;  it  stopped  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  About  a  month 
before  I  left  Washington  the  statement  was  published  by  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  that  a  large  emigration  from  the  United 
States  was  expected  when  the  war  closed ;  that  the  steamship 
•agencies  already  are  swamped  with  bookings  for  people  to  go 
back  to  their  countries  and  carry  the  atmosphere  of  freedom  back 
to  the  lands  where  they  were  born.  We  cannot  confidently  look 
to  immigration  as  a  source  of  settlers  for  cut-over  lands.  That 
compels  a  line  of  development  closely  related  to  present  available 
labor  supplies.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  development  of 
these  lands  on  a  strictly  farming  basis  is  a  matter  of  the  some- 
what distant  future.  The  most  promising  immediate  develop- 
ment is  along  live  stock  lines,  particularly  with  beef  cattle  and 
sheep. 

Now  then,  understand  that  when  I  make  this  statement  I  am 
making  it  as  an  animal  expert,  but  I  have  tried,  as  well  as  any 
specialist  can,  to  see  this  matter  in  a  broad,  comprehensive  light; 
but  I  cannot  get  away  from  the  idea  that  the  one  plan  for  devel- 
opment at  this  time,  on  these  cut-over  timber  lands,  is  to  develop 
live  stock  raising  on  a  comprehensive  and  broad-minded  scale.  This 
territory  is  what  you  might  call  a  virgin  territory.  It  is  closely 
analogous  to  the  great  plains  of  the  West  fifty  years  ago.     The 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  115 

land  is  there,  and  the  first  thing  to  do  in  this  development  is  to 
follow  the  most  promising  line  that  offers. 

There  has  been  only  one  speaker  at  this  Conference — and 
I  make  this  statement  without  any  spirit  of  criticism — there  has 
been  only  one  speaker  who  has  even  hinted  that  the  question  of 
labor  is  going  to  cut  any  figure  here.  We  know  what  we  can  do 
in  the  way  of  raising  crops  for  hogs.  There  is  a  lot  of  informa- 
tion on  the  success  of  live  stock  farming  under  intensified  condi- 
tions, such  as  Mr.  Enochs  described;  but,  gentlemen,  you  are  talk- 
ing in  terms  of  76  million  acres,  not  in  terms  of  160  or  320  or  640 
acres.  You  are  dealing  in  big  things.  It  is  a  tremendous  propo- 
sition. This  is  no  child's  play ;  it  is  a  man's  game ;  and  it  is  a  game 
that  will  call  for  all  the  brains  and  intelligence  that  can  be  brought 
into  it. 

Meat  production  in  the  United  States  has  not  been  keeping 
pace  with  the  increase  in  population.     Without  burdening  you  Nation's 
with  a  large  array  of  statistical  information,  I  will  simply  call  Scarcity  of 
your  attention  to  the  number  of  meat  animals  in  the  country  in      ^^' 
1900,  1910  and  1917. 

In  round  numbers  there  were  reported  in  the  1900  census 
seventeen  million  dairy  cows  and  fifty  million  "other"  cattle,  the 
latter  being  principally  beef  cattle.  In  1910  there  were  twenty 
million  dairy  cows  and  forty-one  million  other  cattle.  In  1917 
there  were  twenty-two  million  milch  cows  and  forty  million  other 
cattle. 

We  observe  that  there  has  been  a  considerable  increase  in 
the  number  of  milch  cows,  from  seventeen  million  to  twenty-two 
million  in  seventeen  years,  an  increase  of  almost  thirty  per  cent. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  case  of  beef  cattle  there  has  been  a 
decrease  of  over  nine  million  head,  or  eighteen  per  cent. 

Of  sheep,  the  country  possessed  in   1900  sixty-one  million 
head;  in  1910  fifty-two  million  head,  and  in  1917  forty-eight  mil- 
lion head,  a  decrease  of  thirteen  million  head.     In  the  case  of 
swine,  on  the  other  hand,  we  see  an  increase.     In   1900  there  Sheep 
were  sixty-two  million  head ;  in  1910  fifty-eight  million  head ;  in   Decreasing; 

1917  sixty-seven  million  head,  a  net  increase  of  five  million  head.    , 

■    Increasing 
These  figures  are  taken  from  the  census  figures,  and  from  the 

estimates  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  An  accurate  statis- 
tical comparability  is  impossible,  on  account  of  the  different  con- 
ditions under  which  the  two  censuses  were  compiled,  the  dates  at 


116  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

which  the  figures  were  gathered,  and  the  different  systems  used 
in  obtaining  the  figures.  However,  light  is  obtained  on  the  same 
subject  from  the  reports  of  meat  animals  slaughtered  under  fed- 
eral inspection  at  packing  plants  throughout  the  country.  The 
following  table  shows  the  number  of  establishments  and  the  total 
number  of  animals  inspected  at  slaughter  under  federal  inspection 
annually  from  the  beginning  of  inspection  in  the  fiscal  year  1907, 
up  to  and  including  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1916: 

NUMBER  OF  ESTABLISHMENTS  AND  TOTAL  NUMBER 

OF  ANIMALS  INSPECTED  AT  SLAUGHTER  UNDER 

FEDERAL  INSPECTION  ANNUALLY,  1907-1916. 

Fiscal  Year    Establishments  Cattle  Calves 

1907  708  7,621,717.  1,763,574 

1908  787  7,116,275  1,995,487 

1909  876  7,325,337  2,046,711 

1910  919  7,962,189  2,295,099 

1911  936  7,781,030  2,219,908 

1912  940  7,532,005  2,242,929 

1913  .     910         7,155,816      2,098,484 

1914  893         6,724,117       1,814,904 

1915  896         6,964,402      1,735.902 

1916  875         7,404,288      2,048,022 

Swine  Sheep  Goats         All  Animals 

31,815,900  9,681,876  52,149  50,935,216 

35,113,077  9,702,545  45,953  53,973,337 

35,427,931  10,802,903  69,193  55,672,075 

27,656,021  11,149,937  115,811  49,179,057 

29,916,363  13,005,502  54,145  52,976,948 

34,966,378  14,208,724  63,983  59,014,019 

32,287,538  14,724,465  56,556  56,322,859 

33,289,705  14,958,834  121,827  56,909,387 

36,247,958  12,909,089  165,533  58,022,884 

40,482,799  11,985,926  180,355  62,101,391 

There  were  7,621,717  cattle  slaughtered  for  inspection  in  the 
year  1907  ;  in  the  year  1910  this  number  had  increased  to  7,962,189^ 
from  which  point  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  decrease,  until 
the  year  1915.  The  number  slaughtered  in  the  year  1916  was 
7,404,288,  which  is  200,000  less  than  in  the  year  1907.  The 
slaughter  of  calves  is  not  significant.     The  slaughter  of  swine, 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  117 

on  the  other  hand  is  profoundly  significant,  a  general  tendency 

to  increase  being  noticed  from  the  year  1907,  when  31,815,900 

head  of  swine  were  inspected,  to  the  year  1916,  when  40,482,799 

were  inspected,  an  increase  of  almost  nine  million  head.    Sheep, 

on  the  other  hand,  show  an  increase  to  the  year  1914,  when  14,-  Hogs  Prevent 

958,834  were  inspected,  from  which  time  the  decrease  has  been  Serious    Meat 

pronounced,  a  total  of  11,985,926  being  reported  for  the  last  fiscal 

year,  as  against  9,681,876  in  1907.    The  total  number  of  animals 

inspected  at  slaughter  has  increased  from  50,935,216  in  1907  to 

62,101,391  in  1916,  77.62  per  cent  of  this  being  due  to  the  increase 

in  swine  slaughterings. 

Up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war,  our  population  was  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  per  cent  per  decade.  The  sig- 
nificance of  these  figures  is  therefore  apparent.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  our  producers  of  beef  cattle  are  doing  everything  which  is 
economically  possible  at  the  present  time  to  increase  the  output, 
but  they  have  not  yet  overcome  the  effects  of  the  depression  of 
ten  years  ago.  The  increase  in  pork  production,  which  has  been 
rapid  during  the  last  ten  years,  is  all  that  has  saved  the  country 
from  a  most  serious  meat  shortage.  The  per  capita  consumption 
of  meat  in  the  United  States  has  actually  decreased  during  this 
time.  Any  head  of  a  family  on  a  moderate  income  -can  bear  wit- 
ness to  this  fact. 

The  entire  problem  is  an  economic  one.  Confining  our  atten- 
tion solely  to  beef  and  pork  production,  we  may  observe  that 
hogs  are  much  more  economical  animals  to  produce  on  the  farm 
than  beef  cattle.  The  classic  investigations  of  Lawes  and  Gilbert 
showed  that  a  steer  required  777  pounds  of  digestible  organic 
matter  to  make  100  pounds  of  increase  in  live  weight,  whereas  a 
pig  required  only  353  pounds  of  digestible  matter  to  make  a  sim- 
ilar gain.  Expressed  in  another  way,  Jordan  has  shown  that  the  p-  d^.-o.-..^ 
pig  returns  25  pounds  of  marketable  product  for  each  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  digestible  matter  consumed,  of  which  15.6  pounds 
are  edible  solids,  whereas  a  steer  returns  only  8.3  pounds  of  mar- 
ketable product,  of  which  only  2.8  pounds  are  digestible  solids. 
This  greater  economy  of  production  for  feed  consumed  accounts 
for  the  large  increase  in  pork  production  on  the  high-priced  lands 
of  the  corn  belt,  while  beef  production  there  has  been  almost  at 
a  standstill. 

Cattle,  however,  are  a  necessity  in  economical  farm  manage- 
ment, when  large  quantities  of  unmarketable  roughage  are  pro- 


118  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

duced.  The  high-priced  corn  belt  farms  produce  tremendous 
quantities  of  corn  stover  and  large  amounts  of  straw.  Formerly 
these  products  were  largely  wasted,  but  the  necessity  to  get  re- 
turns on  the  heavy  investment  now  requires  their  conservation. 
The  silo,  the  stover  shredder,  rations  in  which  straw  forms  an 
important  part,  and  other  methods  of  conservation  have  become 
necessary.  Nothing  takes  the  place  of  cattle  in  so  utilizing 
coarse,  unmarketable  forage.  Whether  the  cattle  will  be  used 
for  beef  production  or  dairy  production  depends  entirely  upon 
labor,  marketing  and  transportation  conditions. 

The  problem  of  the  economy  of  pork  production  in  the 
South  is  solved  to  a  large  extent.  The  increase  in  the  number  of 
hogs  in  Southern  territory  has  been  a  striking  feature  of  the 
agriculture  of  that  section  during  recent  years.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  reports  of  this  character  is  found  in  the  percentage 
of  hogs  in  the  country  on  January  1,  1916,  as  compared  with  Jan- 
HoQ  Produc-  ^^^y  ^>  1915.  At  that  time  there  were  fourteen  states  which  re- 
tion  in  South  ported  an  increase  of  ten  per  cent,  or  more  in  the  number  of  hogs 
Increasing  on  January  1,  1916.  Of  these  fourteen  states,  only  two  were 
strictly  corn  belt  states,  and  of  the  remaining  twelve,  five  were 
Southern  states,  namely.  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  The  increase  during  the  last  calendar  year 
was  not  so  pronounced,  largely  on  account  of  the  high  prices  for 
hogs  prevailing  during  the  year  1916,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  tendency  in  Southern  states  to  increase  the  number 
of  hogs  has  yet  reached  its  maximum. 

For  convenient  reference  I  am  including  here  a  table  of 
figures  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  showing  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  hogs  in  Southern  s4;ates  from  1914  to  1917. 

NUMBER  OF  HOGS  JANUARY  1. 


1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

Increase 

Maryland    .  . 

332,000 

349,000 

359,000 

359,000 

27,000 

Virginia.  .    . 

869,000 

956,000 

1,023,000 

1,023.000 

154,000 

W.  Virginia. 

367,000 

374,000 

378,000 

380,000 

13,000 

N.  Carolina. 

1,362,000 

1,525,000 

1,550,000 

1.550,000 

188,000 

S.    Carolina. 

780,000 

819,000 

870,000 

920,000 

140,000 

Georgia.  .  .  . 

1,945,000 

2,042,000 

2,348,000 

2,585,000 

640,000 

Florida 

904,000 

949,000 

996,000 

1,100,000 

196,000 

Tennessee.    . 

1,320,000 

1,501,000 

1,531,000 

1,485,000 

165,000 

The  Dawn 

of  a  New 

Constructive  Era 

119 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

Increase 

Alabama.  .   . 

,   1,485,000 

1,559,000 

1,715,000 

1,850,000 

365,000 

Mississippi. 

.  1,467,000 

1,540,000 

1,617,000 

1,698,000 

231,000 

Louisiana.  . 

.  1,398,000 

1,412,000 

1,553,000 

1,584,000 

186,000 

Texas 

,  2,618,000 

2,880,000 

3,197,000 

3,229,000 

611,000 

Oklahoma.  . 

.  1,352,000 

1,420,000 

1,491,000 

3,372,000 

20,000 

Arkansas. . . 

.  1,498,000 

1,573,000 

1,589,000 

1,575,000 

77,000 

Total.  .   ..17,697,000  18,890,000  20,217,000  20,710,000  3,013,000 

The  control  of  hog  cholera  is  no  more  difificiilt  in  the  South 
than  in  the  corn  belt,  but  the  control  of  parasitic  pests,  both  in- 
ternal and  external,  requires  more  careful  attention  than  in  the 
North.  Economical  pork  production  in  the  South  is  based  on  the 
use  of  forage  crops  and  the  proper  use  of  these  crops  in  rotation 
helps  materially  in  handling  the  problem  of  internal  parasites. 

In  many  sections  peanuts  are  largely  used  for  grazing  hogs, 
resulting  in  the  production  of  an  oily  pork.  Mast-fed  hogs  have 
long  been  subject  to  "dockage"  on  sale.  Now  the  peanut  hog  has 
joined  this  tabooed  company  and  all  Southern  hogs  reach  North- 
ern markets  under  suspicion.     So  long  as  the  fresh  pork  market 

is  as  strong  as  it  is  at  the  present  time,  this  condition  does  not    „     , , 

,,-,,,  ,       .  „  ,  ,  ,       Problem  of 

preclude  prohtable  hog  production.    Sooner  or  later,  however,  the  piui^jjifiQ  Qg. 

problem  must  be  solved,  and  methods  of  finishing  devised  which  ing  Solved 
will  harden  the  meat  of  hogs  raised  on  forage  crops  which  pro- 
duce fats  with  low  melting  points.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  most 
serious  problem  in  Southern  pork  production.  A  similar  problem 
was  satisfactorily  solved  by  Danish  and  Canadian  scientists,  and  a 
number  of  investigators  in  the  Southern  field,  notably  Gray,  of 
North  Carolina,  are  now  engaged  upon  it.  There  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  it  will  not  be  solved  in  due  time. 

The  first  great  problem  in  Southern  beef  production  is  tick 
eradication.  This  problem  is  now  fairly  on  its  way  to  the  half- 
mile  post.  Needless  to  say,  the  second  half  will  be  made  in  much 
better  time  than  the  first.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the 
first  territory  to  be  cleared  of  tick  infestation  was  the  territory 
which  was  most  promising  for  cattle  production,  or  in  which 
a  certain  amount  of  cattle  production  has  been  in  progress  for 
a  considerable  time.  From  one  standpoint,  the  easy  work  has 
been  done,  and  the  territory  still  under  quarantine  includes  some 
sections  in  which  tick  eradication  work  will  be  extremely  diflRcult. 


120  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

To  offset  this  difficulty  we  may  observe  that  full  ten  years  have 
been  taken  to  accomplish  what  has  already  been  done.  A  large 
amount  of  this  time  has  been  consumed  in  educational  propa- 
ganda. The  education  which  the  country  has  received  as  to  the 
value  of  tick  eradication  will  undoubtedly  go  a  long  way  toward 
overcoming  the  natural  obstacles  which  confront  the  eradicators 
in  the  territory  still  under  quarantine.  The  wisdom  of  the  policy 
Tick  Being  fof  the  past  shows  clearly,  and  the  merit  of  the  movement  is 
Eliminated  as  ^Q^y  generally  recognized.  With  the  majority  of  men,  women 
and  children  in  the  South  now  recognizing  the  importance  of  get- 
ting rid  of  the  cattle  tick,  a  much  larger  amount  of  the  effort  of 
the  next  ten  years  can  be  spent  in  active  tick  eradication  work. 
The  tick-free  area  has  now  reached  the  sea  coast  and  by  the  end 
of  the  present  calendar  year  we  may  expect  to  see  released  from 
quarantine  at  least  one  state  which  was  in  1906  entirely  tick- 
infested.  This  event  will  add  to  the  impetus  of  the  movement  in 
other  states  and  state-wide  tick-eradication  laws  will  not  only 
appear  on  the  statute  books  of  all  states  where  tick  quarantine 
exists,  but  they  will  be  sincerely  and  energetically  administered. 

We  are  thus  rapidly  adding  to  the  country's  tick-free  terri- 
tory.    However,  the  common  assumption  that  the  eradication  of 
Tick  Eradica-  the  cattle  tick  automatically  adds  just  so  much  area  to  the  cattle- 
tion    and   the  producing  territory,  is  not  exactly  true.     A  large  portion  of  the 
Cattle  Pro-    ^    territory  which  has  been  released  from  quarantine  during  the  last 
torii^^     ^^"'  ^^"  years  has  always  produced  cattle  of  sorts,  but  in  much  of  the 
territory  from  which  the  tick  is  still  to  be  driven  out,  the  profit- 
able production  of  beef  cattle  has  been  practically  unknown. 

Let  me  make  myself  exactly  clear  on  this  point.  I  admit  the 
fact  that  in  some  sections  which  are  primarily  pasture  sections, 
beef  cattle  have  been  profitably  produced  where  ticks  have  been 
present  and  the  infestation  light,  and  considerable  progress  has 
been  made  in  breeding  up  native  stock  by  the  use  of  purebred 
bulls.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  in  some  sections  where  the  "piney- 
woods"  cattle  are  common,  the  owners  have  made  a  profit.  It  is 
still  possible,  no  doubt,  for  a  few  individuals  to  make  a  living 
from  cattle  of  this  type,  but  such  a  business,  regarded  in  the 
broad  light  of  economics,  cannot  be  said  to  be  profitable  as  an 
industry.  If  the  proper  charge  had  been  made  for  the  use  of 
the  land  over  which  these  cattle  grazed,  the  profit  in  their  pro- 
duction would  probably  be  reduced  to  zero. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  121 

Methods  of  finishing  cattle  for  market  have  been  well  worked 
out  in  certain  sections  of  the  South,  and  the  possible  profit  by 
some  of  these  methods  was  definitely  shown,  while  the  land  on 
which  the  work  was  done  was  still  under  quarantine.  We  must 
admit,  however,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  area  below  the  original 
quarantine  line  is  not  yet  ready  for  the  fattening  of  cattle.  Until  South  Can 
corn  is  produced  in  quantity  and  cheaply,  or  until  other  finishmg 
feeds  equally  cheap  and  equally  efficient,  are  produced,  the  raising  Cattle 
of  beef  cattle  for  finishing  elsewhere  must  be  the  chief  feature  of 
the  beef  business  of  the  South.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
'CUt-over  timber  lands,  and  it  is  this  territory  which  I  have  in 
mind  in  making  the  foregoing  remarks  concerning  the  econom- 
ical production  of  beef  cattle  in  quarantined  territory. 

What  do  we  really  know  about  the  cattle  raising  possibilities 
of  these  cut-over  timber  lands?  The  fact  that  piney-woods  cattle 
range  over  them  with  little  or  no  charge  for  the  range,  proves 
nothing  from  a  business  standpoint,  except  that  the  climatic  con- 
ditions do  not  inhibit  the  growth  of  cattle.  I  might  also  say  that 
the  fact  that  men  have  reached  a  considerable  degree  of  success  in 
the  production  of  pure-bred  cattle  in  the  South  on  cut-over  timber 
lands  proves  only  one  thing,  and  that  is  that  the  South  can  pro- 
duce just  as  good  pure-bred  beef  cattle  as  any  other  section  of 
the  country,  but  it  sheds  very  little  light  on  the  question  of  the 
utilization  of  76  million  acres  of  these  lands.  This  is  a  ranching 
problem,  a  grazing  problem. 

If  I  may  digress  a  moment,  I  venture  the  opinion  that  the 
presence  of  these  native  cattle  in  considerable  numbers  will  be 
found  to  be  an  advantage  when  conditions  are  ready  for  the 
systematic  development  of  an  economic  cattle  raising  industry.  ]\iative  Cattle 
These  native  cows  are  hardy,  acclimated,  and  will  become  a  an  Asset 
splendid  foundation  on  which  to  build  the  cattle  industry  of  the 
future.  This  native  blood  responds  quickly  to  crossing  with  well- 
bred  bulls,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  systematic  crosses,  high 
grades  will  result  which  will  be  quite  valuable  as  feeders. 

This  much  we  know,  but  before  we  can  advise  capital  to 
invest  extensively  in  the  cattle  business  on  cut-over  timber  lands, 
we  must  be  sure  that  the  cost  of  rriaking  these  lands  suitable  for 
cattle  production  will  not  be  so  great  as  to  prevent  the  enterprise 
from  being  profitable  under  proper  management.  I  understand 
that  the  cost  of  ridding  the  land  of  stumps  has  been  pretty  well 


122  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

worked  out.  The  cost  of  fencing  can  very  readily  be  ascertained. 
These  and  similar  points  being  determined,  we  are  at  once  face 
to  face  with  the  question  of  the  productive  value  which  these 
lands  may  then  have  for  cattle  grazing.  By  this  time  you  are 
probably  of  the  opinion  that  I  am  a  doleful  prophet,  and  that  I  am 
Sees  South  as  throwing  cold  water  on  the  idea  of  developing  these  lands  for  cat- 
Nation's  Neiv  tie  production.  Far  from  it.  I  have  for  more  than  ten  years  main- 
Lattle  Loun-  twined  that  our  most  promising  future  source  of  considerable 
increase  in  beef  cattle  production  in  this  country  is  in  the  South- 
ern territory  south  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  rivers. 
The  Western  range  has  reached  its  capacity.  The  increase  in 
production  in  the  corn  belt  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase  in 
population,  and  in  order  to  supply  the  corn-producing  sections 
with  feeders  at  reasonable  prices  we  must  look  to  development  in 
the  South. 

Regarding  the  territory  as  a  whole,  the  cut-over  timber  lands 
are  by  nature  promising  for  cattle  producing  purposes.  But  these 
cut-over  timber  lands  at  present  do  not  produce  cattle  econom- 
ically, and  they  will  not  produce  cattle  economically  until  the 
grass-producing  possibilities  of  these  lands  are  thoroughly  dem- 
onstrated. 

Granted,  then,  that  for  a  somewhat  long  time  to  come,  cattle 
raising  rather  than  cattle  fattening  will  prevail  in  the  South  as  a 
whole,  it  is  apparent  that  after  tick  eradication,  the  problem  of 
most  pressing  importance,  particularly   in  the  cut-over  timber 
country,  will  be  the  maintenace  of  the  herds  which  will  be  estab- 
More  and  Bet-  lished  on  the  tick-freed  areas.     This  maintenance  problem  has 
ter  Pasturage  ^wo  phases — the  pasture  period  and  the  wintering  period.     The 
Essential  pasture  problem  must  be  solved  before  the  promised  development 

of  the  Southern  cattle  industry  becomes  an  accomplished  fact. 
Not  only  in  the  cut-over  timber  lands,  but  elsewhere  throughout 
the  South,  the  pasture  problem  presents  itself  as  the  most  im- 
portant feature  after  the  tick  eradication  problem  is  solved. 

The  botanical  features  of  native  Southern  forage  plants  are, 
of  course,  well  known.  The  adaptability  of  certain  imported 
ones  is  also  fairly  well  understood,  but  there  is  a  very  great  deal 
to  learn  of  the  relative  merits  of  different  plants,  their  behavior 
when  pastured,  their  proper  management  under  pasture,  and  their 
productive  value  as  pasture  plants. 

Just  one  question  is  a  fair  example  of  the  importance  of 
these  problems,  and  this   one   question   crystallizes   everything 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  123 

which  I  have  said  on  this  subject.     How  many  acres  of  cut-over  Seven  to  Ten 
timber  land  are  necessary  to  carry  a  cow  through  the  season?  Do  ^^^^^  to  a 
you  know  ?    I  do  not,  and  I  have  never  met  a  man  who  does. 

By  way  of  explanation,  let  me  say  that  this  was  written 
before  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our  good  friend,  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, of  Texas.  Mir.  Thompson  was  the  first  man  able  to  give  me 
an  intelligent  answer  to  that  question.  He  said  yesterday  that 
when  they  started  on  that  60,0C)0-acre  tract  in  Trinity  and  Polk 
Counties,  in  Texas,  they  estimated  they  would  carry  one  cow  on 
every  fifteen  acres;  but  he  says  that  he  has  found  they  can  almost 
cut  it  in  two,  and  now  they  estimate  that  around  seven  to  ten  acres 
will  be  required  to  keep  a  cow  for  the  season. 

The  first  thought  which  an  investor  should  consider  before 
going  into  cattle  raising  in  these  sections,  is  this  very  question. 
It  therefore  seems  incumbent  on  all  of  us  who  are  interested  in 
this  problem  to  bend  every  effort  to  bring  about  a  speedy  accumu- 
lation of  accurate  information  on  the  pasture  question,  and  the 
problem  should  be  studied  under  different  types  of  conditions, 
each  type  related  to  the  whole,  so  that  when  we  have  accumulated 
data,  it  will  not  be  fragmentary,  but  each  part  will  fill  a  niche  in 
the  construction  of  the  entire  structure. 

The  wintering  problem  does  not  give  one  nearly  so  much 
concern  as  does  the  problem  of  pasturing  through  the  growing 
season.  The  wintering  problem  can  be  solved  by  foresight.  We 
are  apt  to  overlook  the  fact  that  during  the  short  winter  in  the 
South,  losses  among  cattle  may  be  quite  as  serious  as  on  the 
ranges  of  the  West,  unless  owners  have  fortified  themselves  with 
a  sufficient  supply  of  feed  to  carry  the  animals  through.  Under 
the  best  climatic  conditions,  cattle  of  the  age  of  yearlings  up, 
will  lose  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pounds  during  the  winter 
when  forced  to  subsist  on  cotton-stalk  fields  and  cane  brakes.  Plenty  of 
When  winter  conditions  such  as  occurred  during  the  winter  of  F^^ft  in  Win- 
1916-17  prevail,  heavy  losses  result.  Thousands  of  cows  died  in  ^^  ^^^^  '" 
the  South  during  the  past  winter.  The  weather  had  something 
to  do  with  these  deaths,  but  shortage  of  feed  was  the  principal 
cause.  All  this  loss  might  have  been  prevented  if  one  of  two 
things  had  been  done:  First,  if  the  owner  had  not  stocked  up 
with  more  cattle  than  he  had  feed  for;  second,  if  he  had  taken 
precaution  to  provide  sufficient  feed  in  advance  to  carry  the  cows 
through  the  winter.     In  any  cattle  enterprise  on  cut-over  lands, 


124  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

selected  areas  can  doubtless  be  found  on  which  feed  production 
can  be  economically  carried  on  to  produce  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
hay  and  silage  to  carry  the  cows  through  the  winter.  Where  an 
owner  is  caught  with  more  cattle  than  he  has  feed  for,  he  is  in  a 
serious  predicament.  A  sufficient  supply  of  silage  and  hay,  silage 
and  cottonseed  meal,  or  even  of  hay  alone,  would  have  been  cheap 
insurance  against  the  losses  of  last  winter. 

As  a  constructive  suggestion,  it  is  advised  that  the  pasture 
problem  be  attacked  without  delay  in  a  systematic,  thorough  and 
practical  manner,  co-operatively  by  the  agronomist  and  the  animal 
husbandman.  This  plan  need  not  be  unduly  expensive.  It  should 
Jl  f  f  p  be  carried  out  in  a  simple,  thorough  way.  Any  studies  which  are 
tiiraqe  Prob-  "la^'^le  should  be  made  under  field  conditions.  They  should  be  sys- 
tem Urged  tematically  located  and  carried  on  at  a  sufficient  number  of  points 
so  that  the  influence  of  different  types  of  soil,  topography  and  cli- 
mate will  receive  adequate  attention.  Furthermore,  there  should  be 
such  a  co-ordination  of  effort  that  the  results  obtained  at  any 
given  point  will  shed  light  on  the  problem  as  a  whole.  We 
are  all  agreed,  I  take  it,  that  the  problem  is  urgent.  It  is 
therefore  necessary  that  results  be  obtained  promptly  which 
will  answer  the  questions  of  most  pressing  importance  in  a 
minimum  of  time.  No  plan  should  be  adopted  which  will 
necessitate  a  large  amount  of  preliminary  detail  work  in  the 
way  of  providing  equipment  and  facilities.  Sufficient  num- 
bers of  cattle  should  be  used  to  make  each  experiment  in  it- 
self of  commercial  importance.  That  is  to  say,  in  the  case  of 
stockers,  the  number  should  be  at  least  a  carload  in  every  ex- 
periment ;  in  the  case  of  studies  on  the  maintenance  of  a  breeding 
herd,  a  herd  with  a  minimum  of  at  least  fifty  cows,  should  be 
used,  so  that  at  least  a  carload  of  cattle  would  be  produced  by 

,  each  breeding  unit  each  vear.    The  methods  and  equipment  used 
How    Prompt     ,       ,  ,  ,  ,     ,  "     ^   ,  ,  ,      .  ,•       ,  ,.   j 

Results  Mai]      should  be  such  that  successful  results  can  be  mimediately  applied 

Be  Obtained  to  the  business  on  a  large  scale.  The  experiments  should  be 
planned  primarily  from  a  business  standpoint,  and  none  should  be 
attempted  which  do  not  promise  in  all  probability,  under  com- 
petent management,  to  show  a  profit.  All  records  should  be  kept 
with  systematic  care  and  precision  by  the  methods  now  commonly 
accepted  as  standard  for  such  work.  The  record  keeping  feature 
of  the  work  is  not  properly  chargeable  against  the  cattle  on 
experiment  and  constitutes  the  principal  item  of  overhead  ex- 
pense.    Properly  handled,  the  receipts  from  sales  of  cattle  used 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  125 

in  such  a  series  of  experiments  can  be  made  to  pay  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  expenses  of  the  work. 

The  Chairman  :    Are  there  any  inquiries  ? 

A  Delegate:     Is  it  necessary  to  stable  cattle  in  the  South? 

Mr.  Rommel :  Not  necessarily.  It  is  always  an  advantage 
to  shelter  cattle  in  storms.  I  have  always  insisted  on  this :  If 
you  give  an  animal  a  dry  place  to  sleep,  shelter  from  the  storms, 
and  plenty  to  eat,  you  will  get  along  all  right  through  the  winter- 
time ;  and  all  you  need  is  a  simple  shelter  for  the  cattle,  as  they 
ought  to  have  a  dry  place  to  sleep,  and  where  they  will  not  be 
exposed  to  storms.  These  storms  which  you  have  down  here  are 
almost  as  severe  on  the  cattle  as  the  more  severe  storms  in  the 
more  northern  sections. 


A  Survey  of  the  Live  Stock 
Situation 

By  Dr.  Andrew  M.  Soule 

President  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  of  the 
State  of  Georgia 

Statistics  are  unpalatable  to  the  average  man.  They  do  not 
seem  to  appeal  to  his  imagination.  They  are  too  matter  of  fact 
and  not  sufficiently  spectacular  to  interest  him.  Yet  their  consid- 
eration is  basic  to  ascertaining  the  true  status  of  any  business  or 
industry.  The  general  dislike  for  statistics  is  in  large  measure 
due  to  the  difficulty  of  their  ready  assimilation.  To  imderstand 
them  requires  careful  study,  and  this  the  average  farmer  or  busi-  False  Philos- 
ness  man  has  not  been  ready  to  bestow  upon  them,  because  like  ^phy  Danger- 
the  English,  he  has  always  muddled  through  somehow.  This 
indifference  to  statistics  accounts  in  large  degree  for  our  woeful 
lack  of  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  true  economic  situation  which 
confronts  us  as  a  people.  We  are  surprised  and  startled  when  we 
learn  that  the  food  supply  has  become  circumscribed  and  that  the 
cost  of  living  has  advanced  in  such  an  alarming  manner.  It  has 
been  much  easier  in  the  past  to  follow  the  false  reasoning  and 
"spread-eagleism"  of  the  orator  or  to  swallow  bodily  the  absurd 


oils 


126  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

explanations  offered  by  the  demagogue  until  at  last  we  have 
reached  a  point  where  these  things  no  longer  act  as  palliatives 
and  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  necessity  of  studying  and  solving 
economic  questions  through  the  exercise  of  the  highest  intelli- 
gence and  skill  which  we  as  a  nation  are  in  position  to  bring  to 
their  correct  solution.  I  have  no  apologies  to  offer,  therefore,  for 
the  statistical  data  presented  in  this  paper,  as  I  consider  it  nec- 
essary to  the  elucidation  of  the  discussion  which  follows. 

A  survey  of  the  live  stock  situation  must,  of  necessity,  deal 
with  the  past,  present  and  future  conditions  and  possibilities  of 
this  industry  in  the  South.  In  this  connection,  it  is  proper  to  state 
that  this  discussion  is  based  on  a  consideration  of  the  number  of 
live  stock  held  on  the  farms  in  the  following  fifteen  states  as  taken 
from  the  1910  census  :  Maryland,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Oklahoma  and  Texas. 

Animals  in  Southern  States  1910. 

Number  Value 


The  South's 
Part  in  the 
Nation's  Live 


Dairy  cows 5,651,000  $149,462,000 

Other  cattle 13,795,000  216,993,000 

Stock    Indus-  Sheep 7,196,000  25,574,000 

try                    Swine 18,374.000  80,670,000 


Total 45,016,000  $472,699,000 

Animals  in  United  States  1910. 

Number  Value 

Dairy  cows 20,625,000  $706,236,000 

Other  cattle 41,178,000  793,287,000 

Sheep 52,447,000  232.841,000 

Swine 58,185,000  399,338,000 

Total 172,435,000         $2,131,702,000 

It  appears  that  in  1910,  there  were  45,016,000  head  of  live 

Live  Stock        stock,  worth  $472,699,000,  owned  on  Southern  farms.     At  that 

Values  Double  time,  there  were  172,435,000  head  of  live  stock  on  all  the  farms  in 

in  Six  Years      the  United  States,  worth  $2,131,702,000.     It  appears  that  a  little 

more  than  one-fourth  of  the  live  stock  owned  in  the  United  States 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  Vll 

was  in  the  South,  while  they  had  a  value  of  less  than  one-fourth 
of  the  total  value  of  all  the  animals  owned  in  the  United  States. 

On  January  1,  1917,  according  to  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Esti- 
mates, the  live  stock  in  the  Southern  states  numbered  48,171,000 
and  were  worth  $877,643,000.  The  number  of  animals  in  the 
United  States  was  179,553,000,  worth  $3,961,527,000.  There  was 
an  increase  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  therefore,  in  numbers,  of 
7,118,000,  and  in  value,  of  $1,829,825,000.  In  other  words,  while 
the  increase  in  live  stock  as  a  whole  is  relatively  small,  the  value 
almost  doubled. 

Animals  in  the  Southern  States  1916. 

Number  Value 

Dairy  cows 5,889,000  $276,085,000 

Other  cattle 13,005,000  365,747,000 

Sheep 6,978,000  37,047,000 

Swine 22,299,000  198,764,000 


48,171,000  $877,643,000 
Animals  in  United  States  1916. 

Number  Value 

Dairy  cows 22,768,000  $1,358,435,000 

Other  cattle 40,849,000  1.465,786,000 

Sheep 48,483,000  346,064,000 

Swine 67,453.000  791,242,000 


179,553,000  $3,961,527,000 

During  the  six  years  under  discussion,  the  number  of  animals 
in  the  South  increased  by  3,155,000,  as  compared  with  7,118,000 
for  the  United  States.  There  was  also  a  very  substantial  increase 
in  value,  amounting  roughly  to  $405,000,000.  In  the  matter  of 
gain  in  numbers,  the  South  more  than  held  its  own,  but  did  not 
make  much  progress  as  compared  with  other  sections  of  the 
country  in  an  increased  valuation  of  its  live  stock.  An  analysis  of  Lifter 
the  figures  shows  that  there  was  quite  a  substantial  gain  in  the 
number  of  dairy  cows,  amounting  to  238,000  head.  In  the  number 
of  beef  cattle  there  was  a  loss  of  790,000  head.  Sheep  also  de- 
clined by  218,000.  Hogs  increased  by  4,025,000  head.  It  is  grati- 
fying to  observe  that  the  hog  industry  is  being  recognized  at 


Swine  as  a 
Mortgage 


128 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Decline  in 
Beef  Cattle 
and  Sheep 


Room  for 
150,000,000 
Slieep  in  the 
South 


its  face  value,  and  that  this  line  of  animal  husbandry  is  being 
systematically  advanced  throughout  the  South.  The  hog  is  a 
mortgage  lifter  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  and  will  pay  the 
farmer  as  large  a  return  on  his  investment  in  as  short  a  time  as 
he  can  obtain  from  any  other  class  of  stock.  As  a  means  towards 
increasing  the  food  supply  and  adequately  feeding  our  own  peo- 
ple, building  up  the  income  of  our  farms,  and  enabling  us  to  di- 
versify and  rotate  our  crops  in  a  satisfactory  manner  and  reduce 
or  overcome  the  losses  which  the  boll  weevil  may  cause  in  various 
states,  let  us  encourage  swine  husbandry  in  every  legitimate  man- 
ner. •  If  we  do  this,  many  of  our  most  difficult  problems  will  be 
satisfactorily  solved. 

It  may  be  surprising  to  many  that  there  should  have  been  a 
decrease  in  beef  cattle  of  790,000  head.  This  is  a  grave  economic 
mistake  and  must  be  corrected  if  the  South  is  to  become  perma- 
nently prosperous  and  successful.  It  is  all  the  more  regrettable 
that  this  decrease  in  beef  cattle  should  have  occurred  in  view  of 
the  great  success  which  has  attended  the  campaign  for  tick  eradi- 
cation, and  the  relatively  large  area  which  has  been  set  free  as  a 
result  of  this  work  which  has  been  carried  forward  by  the  federal 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  in  co-operation  with  the  several 
states.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  sheep  on  Southern  farms 
is  also  to  be  greatly  regretted.  There  is  no  explanation  for  such 
a  condition  save  the  fact  that  the  worthless  cur  has  been  allowed 
to  flourish  at  the  expense  of  the  "golden  hoof"  of  the  sheep.  In 
England  sheep  are  grown  by  the  millions  on  lands  similar  to 
thousands  of  acres  unadapted  for  general  cultivation  to  be  found 
in  the  South,  yet  which  are  susceptible  of  producing  a  fine  variety 
of  grass  and  forage  crops.  In  England  sheep  are  raised  for 
mutton  and  the  wool  is  a  surplus  crop.  There  is  no  reason  why 
this  industry  should  not  be  established  on  similar  lines  in  the 
South.  Where  Great  Britain,  with  an  area  of  120,000  square 
miles,  maintains,  roughly  speaking,  between  twenty  and  twenty- 
five  million  head  of  sheep,  we  in  the  South  are  maintaining  less 
than  seven  million  on  899,747  square  miles.  On  a  comparative 
basis,  the  South  should  be  maintaining  over  150,000,000  head  of 
sheep,  or  between  five  and  six  for  each  inhabitant.  At  the  present 
time,  England  is  maintaining  one  sheep  for  each  two  of  her  popu- 
lation. Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  cost  of  living  should  be  rapidly 
increasing ;  that  meat  should  become  in  some  senses  of  the  word 
scarce  and  so  high-priced  that  the  average  individual  cannot  u.se 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  129 


it  freely;  or  that  the  cost  of  woolen  clothing  should  reach  such 
exorbitant  figures?  The  writer  likes  dogs,  believing  them  to  be 
one  of  the  most  wholesome  and  desirable  of  all  pets,  but  the  dog 
should  not  be  given  free  range  to  destroy  what  should  be  one 
of  the  country's  most  important  industries.  We  have  literally 
thrown  sheep  to  the  dogs.  When  will  we  come  to  our  senses  and 
confine  or  destroy  the  worthless  cur  and  give  the  golden-hoofed 
sheep  a  chance  to  aid  in  the  agricultural  emancipation  of  the 
South  and  in  the  restoration  of  much  of  our  worn  and  gullied 
lands  which  now  lie  practically  idle?  Surely  this  situation  can 
not  continue  much  longer.     It  is  too  much  out  of  joint  with  the   Throwing 

^       ,  IV  J^  •,,       •  1      J         ^  ^u     1-   1  i.  Sheep   to   the 

times.     Surely  some  Moses  will  arise  to  lead  us  to  see  the  light  ^ 

and  act  in  a  rational  manner  towards  the  solution  of  this  question 
and  the  establishment  of  sheep  husbandry  on  some  basis  com- 
mensurate with  our  opportunities  and  the  needs  of  the  South  and 
the  nation  as  a  whole. 

The  question  naturally  arises  as  to  the  relation  of  animal 
husbandries  in  the  South  compared  to  the  population  as  a  whole. 
In  other  words,  what  are  we  doing  towards  providing  ourselves 
with  animal  food  as  compared  with  other  sections  of  the  country? 
As  already  pointed  out,  the  area  of  the  fifteen  southern  states  is 
899,747  square  miles.  The  area  of  the  United  States  is  3,026,789 
square  miles.  The  South,  therefore,  comprises  practically  one- 
third  of  the  total  area  of  the  United  States.  In  1910  the  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  was  91,972,266,  and  of  the  South, 
28,855,939,  or  a  little  less  than  one-third  of  the  total  population. 
We  possessed,  according  to  the  figures  of  1916,  about  one-fourth  Warns  South 
of  the  dairy  cows,  about  one-third  of  the  beef  cattle,  about  one-  °^  ^^^^  ^^'*'^ 
seventh  of  the  sheep,  and  about  one-third  of  the  hogs  owned  in 
the  United  States.  Therefore,  in  spite  of  the  substantial  increase 
shown  in  the  number  of  swine  in  the  past  six  years,  we  are  barely 
holding  our  own  in  the  matter  of  maintaining  our  animal  indus- 
tries as  compared  with  the  rest  of  the  country.  It  behooves  us 
to  realize  this  situa;tion  and  take  steps  to  avert  the  crisis  which 
will  shortly  confront  us!  unless  something  radical  towards  en- 
couraging and  developing  our  live  stock  industries  is  accom- 
plished very  soon. 

The  population  of  the  United  States  in  the  last  sixteen  years 
has  increased  by  more  than  26,000,000,  or  33  per  cent.  In  the 
past  six  years,  it  is  believed  that  the  numbers  have  increased  by 
more  than   10,000,000.     There  has  been  no  such   proportionate 


130 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Heavy  Ex- 
ports to  Con- 
tinue After 
War 


Tick  Eradica- 
tion First 
Essential 


increase  in  the  number  of  our  farm  animals,  yet  meat  and  dairy 
products  constitute  37  per  cent,  of  the  average  diet,  cereals  31  per 
cent.,  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes  13  per  cent.,  vegetables  8  per  cent., 
and  fish  2  per  cent.  The  amount  of.  beef,  veal,  mutton  and  pork 
available  per  capita  has  fallen  from  248.2  pounds  in  1899  to  219.6 
pounds  in  1915.  The  production  of  butter  and  cheese  per  capita 
has  fallen  from  23.6  pounds  in  1899  to  21.1  pounds  in  1909. 
The  production  of  fish,  cereals  and  Irish  potatoes  has  fallen  off 
since  1899,  while  poultry,  eggs,  sweet  potatoes  and  citrus  fruits 
have  shown  an  increase,  which,  of  course,  is  very  encouraging 
insofar  as  it  goes.  Under  the  stimulus  of  war  abroad  and  extraor- 
dinary prices,  the  exports  of  meat  products  for  1916  will  prob- 
ably be  2,000,000,000  pounds,  together  with  602,000,000  pounds  of 
fats  and  oils.  The  imports  of  these  two  items  amount  to  prac- 
tically nothing  as  compared  with  the  exports.  Hence,  we  face 
another  danger  of  decreasing  our  meat  supply  through  the  de- 
mand abroad,  which  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  will  continue 
until  the  end  of  the  war  and  for  some  years  thereafter.  This  is 
but  an  added  reason  why  we  should  develop  and  promote  our 
animal  industries  in  every  possible  way.  Feverish  activity  along 
this  linei  is  what  we  need.  At  the  same  time,  we  should  avoid  a 
boom  or  speculation  or  irrational  development  because  all  of 
these  things  will  re-act  unfavorably  on  the  industry  in  the  long 
run.  At  the  same  time,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Southern 
(people  as  a  whole  realize  the  true  inwardness  of  the  existing 
situation  or  fully  appreciate  the  opportunities  which  it  offers  to 
them. 

Among  the  things  which  need  to  be  done  to  place  our  animal 
industries  on  a  thoroughly  constructive  basis  is  the  complete 
eradication  of  the  cattle  tick.  Commendable  progress  is  being 
made  along  this  line.  This  work  was  begun  in  1906,  through  the 
efforts  of  a  small  group  of  men  associated  with  Southern  agricul- 
tural colleges  and  experiment  stations,  and  if  laurel  wreaths  were 
given  to  those  deserving  them,  theirs  would  have  been  bestowed 
long  ago.  At  a  time  when  everyone  considered  the  eradication  of 
the  cattle  tick  a  dream  of  the  imagination,  these  men.  inaugurated 
the  work  on  a  scale  which  demonstrated  its  feasibility,  and 
through  persistent  effort,  won  the  sympathy  and  approval  of 
Secretary  Wilson,  Congress  and  the  Federal  authorities  to  the 
support  of  this  work.  The  South  will  never  be  able  to  pay  the 
debt  of  gratitude  it  owes  to  Dr.  Tait  Butler,  Prof.  H.  A.  Morgan. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  131 

Prof.  W.  R.  Dodson,  Prof.  B.  W.  Kilgore,  Dr.  Cooper  Curtis  and 
the  other  men  who  were  associated  with  them  in  the  inauguration 
of  this  wonderful  enterprise.  Already  ticks  have  been  eradicated 
from  294,014  square  miles  of  territory  since  1906.  In  other 
words,  over  forty  per  cent,  of  the  originally  infested  territory  has 
been  cleaned  and  forever  rid  of  this  miserable  parasite  which 
caused  losses  estimated  at  $40,000,000  a  year  to  the  live  stock 
owners  of  the  South.  In  Georgia,  for  instance,  fifty-five  counties 
are  now  free  of  ticks  and  quarantine  regulations  are  being  en- 
forced in  thirty-eight  others.  It  is  only  a  mafter  of  three  to  five 
years  until  practically  every  one  of  the  infested  states  will  have 
been  cleaned  up,  and  when  that  time  is  reached,  the  Southern 
stockmen  ought  to  join  in  a  grand  jubilee  of  thanksgiving. 

Next  to  the  eradication  of  the  tick,  efforts  should  be  made 
looking  to  the  checking  and  elimination  of  disease  and  parasites. 
For  instance,  much  can  be  done  towards  reducing  losses  from 
hog  cholera  which  amount  now  to  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
Tuberculosis  can  also  be  controlled  and  in  large  measure,  stamped  Disease  and 
out.    This  disease  causes  a  loss  in  the  United  States  of  $25,000,000  Parasites 
a   year.     According   to   the   following  table,   the   losses   of   live   Cause    Heavy 
stock  in  Georgia,  mainly  from  disease  and  exposure,  may  be  con-  bosses 
servatively  estimated  at  $5,247,520.    The  total  number  of  animals 
lost  in  the  year  indicated  was  approximately  269,480  head.     Of 
this  number  258,480j  were  meat-producing  animals  so  that  the 
losses  resulted  chiefly  in  cutting  down  the  meat  supply  and  in- 
creasing its  cost  to  the  consumer. 

Losses  of  Live  Stock  in  Georgia  for  Year  Ending  April  1,  1916. 

Number.  Average  Value.  Total  Loss. 

Horses 11,000                $150.00  $1,650,000 

Cattle 41,800                    25.00  1,045,000 

Sheep 5,560                     3.00  16,680 

Swine 211,320                    12.00  2,535,840 

Total 269,680  $5,247,520 

Applying  these  figures  to  the  South,  it  will  be  seen  that  for 
the  fifteen  Southern  states  the  losses  amount  to  between  75  and  More  Veteri- 
100  million  dollars  annually.     Surely,  it  would  be  worth  while   narians 
on  the  part  of  the  different  states  to  spend  something  for  educa-  ^^^ded 
tion,  and  thereby  train  a  generation  of  veterinarians  so  that  the 


132  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

stockmen  might  have  their  services  at  a  reasonable  cost.  The 
stockman  himself  should  receive  sufficient  training  to  be  able  to 
diagnose  many  of  the  more  important  diseases  and  give  the  nec- 
essary treatment.  This  is  particularly  true  in  the  case  of  swine, 
w^hich  the  farmer  can  successfully  inoculate  against  cholera. 
We  have  not  realized  the  nature  or  extent  of  these  losses  as  land 
owners,  and  certainly  the  consuming  part  of  our  population  have 
not  understood  the  situation  or  they  would  have  demanded  a 
measure  of  relief  along  the  lines  indicated  and  which  can  only  be 
done  through  the  medium  of  the  more  liberal  endowment  of  our 
agricultural  colleges  and  the  training  of  experts  to  perform  the 
necessary  public  service  welfare  work  with  animals.  We  also 
need  to  educate  a  generation  of  stockmen.  The  stock  business  is 
a  comparatively  new  industry.  It  is  much  more  complicated 
than  that  of  cotton  farming,  When  one  comes  to  deal  with  living 
animals,  subject  in  many  respects  to  the  same  diseases  and 
troubles  which  afflict  the  human  race,  skill  in  management,  feed- 
ing and  handling  becomes  absolutely  essential.  A  live  stock 
husbandman  is  not  made  over  night.  The  successful  feeders  and 
breeders  of  England  and  Scotland  have  followed  the  industry 
from  generation  to  generation.  The  owners  of  breeding  animals 
in  those  countries  are  highly  educated  and  scholarly  men,  and 
they  have  the  most  reliable  and  capable  herdsmien  with  wide  ex- 
perience in  the  handling  of  animals  in  charge  of  their  herds  and 
The  Agricul-  flocks.  We  must,  therefore,  encourage  our  boys  to  go  to  agricul- 
tural colleges  and  obtain  the  fundamental  and  technical  training 
necessary,  and  then  arrange  for  them  to  obtain  such  additional 
practical  information  as  may  be  necessary  on  selected  stock 
farms.  When  this  is  done  we  will  have  started  the  industry  on 
the  high  road  to  success,  because  it  will  have  been  established  on 
a  correct  scientific  basis,  which  is  the  only  lasting  foundation  on 
which  to  build  any  superstructure. 

That  we  need  education  along  this  line  more  than  in  other 
sections  of  the  country  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  25  head  of 
cattle  out  of  every  1000  die  from  disease  and  25  from  exposure ; 
31  sheep  out  of  every  1000  die  from  disease  and  31  from  exposure ; 
71  head  of  swine  out  of  every  1000  die  from  disease.  These  fig- 
ures apply  to  the  Sunny  South,  with  an  equable  climate,  long 
growing  season  and  the  other  favorable  conditions  which  per- 
tain here.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  North  Atlantic  states, 
where  seasonal  and  climatic  conditions  are  as   unfavorable  as 


tural    College 
as  a  Factor 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  133 

they  could  be  in  any  section  of  the  United  States,  only  19.9 
cattle  in  1000  die  from  disease  and  3.6  from  exposure ;  of  sheep 
25.2  die  from  disease  and  9.2  from  exposure;  of  swine  27.5  die 
from  disease. 

That  we  can  make  rapid  and  substantial  progress  if  we  ap- 
ply ourselves  to  the  task  properly  is  shown  by  what  has  been    Georgia    an 
accomplished  in  Georgia  in  the  last  few  years.    According  to  the  Example  to 
census  figures  of  1910  we  possessed  animals  of  the  several  classes       ^      " 
to  the  number  and  value  indicated  below : 

Number.  Value. 

Horses 120,067  $14,193,839 

Mules 295,348  43.974.611 

Beef  and  Dairy  Cattle 1,080,316  14.060,958 

Sheep 187,644  308,212 

Swine 1,783,684  5,429,016 

Total 3,467,059  $77,966,636 

According  to  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  the  figures  for 
1916  are  as  follows  : 

Number.  Value. 

Morses 127,000  $  16,383,000 

Mules 324,000  52,812,000 

Beef  and  Dairy  Cattle 1,104,000  26,579,000 

Sheep 150,000  420,000 

Swine " 2.585,000  23,265,000 

Total 4,290,000  $119,459,000 

The  increase  in  numbers  for  the  period  mentioned  amounts 
to  822.941  and  the  increase  in  value  to  $41,492,364.  Part  of  this 
increase  in  value  is  attributable  to  the  better  grade  of  live  stock 
and  the  higher  market  values  pertaining,  but  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  it  is  due  to  the  greater  number  of  animals  now  owned. 
For  instance,  horses  and  mules  show  an  increase,  beef  and  dairy 
cattle  a  slight  increase,  sheep  a  falling  off,  but  swine  an  increase 
of  801,316.  or  well  on  towards  the  million  mark.  This  is  a  very 
notable  increase  to  have  occurred  in  a  period  of  six  years.  More- 
over, where  these  animals  had  an  average  value  of  $3.04  in  1910. 
they  now  have  an  average  value  of  $9.00,  showing  that  the  qual- 
ity has  been  greatly  advanced.     In  other  words,  the  increase  in 


134 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Boys'  Live 
Stock  Clubs 
and  County 
Agents 
Praised 


Grass  a 
Friend  and 
Asset  to  tlie 
Farmer 


value  of  swine  in  Georgia  in  six  years  amounts  in  round  numbers 
to  about  $18,000,000. 

This  gives  some  idea  of  the  forcefulness  of  an  educational 
campaign  organized  and  conducted  along  certain  lines.  While 
all  of  the  increase  is  not  attributable  to  any  one  agency,  the  boys' 
live  stock  clubs  have  exerted  a  marvelous  influence  by  creating 
a  renewed  interest  in  swine  husbandry  in  inducing  the  fathers  to 
purchase  pure-bred  animals  for  them,  and  thereby  raising  the 
quality  of  the  stock  kept  on  many  farms.  Naturally,  the  various 
organizations  concerned  have  endeavored  in  every  way  to  en- 
courage the  use  of  preventive  serum,  with  the  result  that  large 
numbers  of  outbreaks  of  this  disease  have  been  checked  at  the 
start,  and  hundreds  of  farmers  taught  how  to  use  the  serum 
properly.  The  county  agents  are  undoubtedly  to  be  credited  with 
having  accomplished  a  work  along  this  line  worth  millions  of 
dollars  to  the  swine  owners  of  the  state.  They  were  the  men  on 
the  ground  when  the  outbreaks  occurred  and  their  prompt  action 
and  public  service  work  in  this  direction  cannot  be  too  highly 
commended.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  they  have  done  an  equally 
important  work  in  every  other  Southern  state. 

Among  the  things  which  must  be  done  is  to  teach  the  South- 
ern farmer  to  quit  fighting  grass.  Grass  should  be  his  most  val- 
uable friend  and  most  highly  prized  asset.  The  cotton  farmer 
has  been  taught  to  fight  grass  from  infancy ;  therefore,  it  seems 
that  he  is  unwilling  to  have  any  of  it  on  any  part  of  his  land 
whether  he  devotes  it  to  cotton  or  not.  One  can  not  grow  and 
maintain  live  stock  successfully  without  grass.  It  is  needless  to 
enter  into  detail  as  to  the  great  variety  of  grasses  and  clovers 
which  may  be  provided  for  summer  and  winter  grazing  and 
which  would  shortly  clothe  our  hills  and  prevent  their  erosion  if 
given  opportunity  to  do  so.  They  would  also  add  materially  to 
the  carrying  capacity  of  the  land,  shorten  the  length  of  time  we 
would  have  to  stall  feed  our  animals,  enable  us  to  improve  the 
quality  of  our  live  stock,  and  give  us  the  necessary  succulent  food 
for  the  cheap  maintenance  of  live  stock  in  the  summer  which 
silage  affords  in  the  winter. 

Speaking  of  the  educational  campaign,  it  is  proper  to  state 
that  hundreds  of  silos  have  been  built  in  Georgia  in  the  last  few 
years  as  a  result  of  the  work  done  by  the  animal  husbandry  di- 
vision and  the  extension  force  of  the  State  College  of  Agriculture. 
Plans  have  been  furnished  to  thousands  of  farmers  and  thev  have 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  135 

been  aided  in  erecting  the  necessary  structures.     They  have  also 

been  advised  as  to  the  crops  to  grow  and  as  to  the  methods  of 

feeding  to  follow,  with  the  result  that  the  silo  is  now  regarded  by 

many  as  an  indispensable  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  beef  and   Helping  the 

dairy  cattle  on  an  economical  and  practical  basis.     Only  a  begin- 

ning  has  been  made  in  this  direction,  however,  for  the  time  must 

shortly  come  when  there  will  be  thousands  upon  thousands  of 

silos  in  every  Southern  state  if  we  are  to  develop  our  live  stock 

business  to  the  degree  which  is  necessary  and  essential. 

Only  a  word  can  be  said  in  this  connection  relative  to  the 
feeding  of  live  stock,  but  it  is  along  this  line  that  more  failures 
are  recorded  than  in  any  other  direction.  Self-criticism  is  not 
pleasant,  but  if  we  realize  that  for  the  most  part  we  are  "babes  in 
the  woods"  when  it  comes  to  the  question  of  feeding,  we  will 
make  progress  all  the  more  rapidly.  The  problem  of  animal 
nutrition  is  a  complicated  one  from  every  point  of  view.  One 
must  understand  the  composition  of  foodstuffs,  and  the  anatomy, 
physiology  and  requirements  of  the  animal  body  for  maintenance, 
for  growth  and  for  work.  One  must  understand  how  to  combine 
foods  in  order  to  promote  digestion  and  circulation ;  in  other 
words,  how  to  lubricate  the  machine  most  cheaply  and  success- 
fully. The  animal  in  the  stall  corresponds  to  the  knitting  ma-  Tlie  Science 
chine  in  the  mill.  It  may  or  may  not  do  effective  work.  It  all  ^'  ^^pP^^ 
depends  on  the  manner  in  which  it  is  set  up  and  manipulated.  It 
must  be  adjusted  and  oiled  and  lubricated.  The  animal  must  be 
fed  and  watered  and  cared  for  properly  if  expected  to  produce  a 
profitable  return.  As  to  the  amount  of  foodstuffs  available,  our 
supply  may  be  limited  in  some  respects,  but  we  can  produce  silage 
ad  libitum,  and  this  can  be  fed  with  success  for  six  months  of  the 
year.  Summer  pastures  can  be  provided  by  the  farmer  who  has 
the  ambition  to  do  so.  Grain  crops  of  a  great  variety  may  be 
had  to  use  as  concentrates.  We  can  increase  our  yields  of  corn, 
oats,  peanuts,  soy  beans,  velvet  beans  and  cotton  seed  meal.  No 
section  of  the  country  may  be  better  supplied  with  the  variety 
of  foodstuffs  essential  to  the  proper  nourishment  of  all  classes  of 
live  stock  than  the  South.  It  is  a  question  of  choosing  from  the 
rich  field  of  possible  supply  and  combining  nature's  gifts  in  the 
proper  manner. 

That  the  feed  problem  is  a  determining  factor  in  economic 
production  is  shown  by  the  following  example :  A  dairy  cow  fed 
on  a  ration  of  36  pounds  of  silage  and  6  pounds  of  cotton  seed 


136 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Rations  That 

Double 

Profits 


High  -  Grade 
Cows  Pay 
Best  in  the 
End 


meal  produced  a  profit  of  $51.75  from  butter  when  sold  at  30 
cents  a  pound.  When  fed  on  a  ration  of  36  pounds  of  silage,  7 
pounds  of  hay  and  5  pounds  of  mixed  grain,  the  profit  at  the  same 
sale  price  was  $37.15.  When  fed  on  a  ration  of  12  pounds  of 
silage,  10  pounds  of  hay  and  10  pounds  of  mixed  grain,  the  profit 
fell  to  $24.43.  In  other  words,  one  ration  was  more  than  twice 
as  profitable  as  another.  This  example  will  apply  with  equal 
force  to  the  economic  maintenance  of  horses  and  mules,  beef  and 
dairy  cattle,  sheep  and  swine.  The  feeding  of  live  stock  may  be 
a  gamble  at  present,  and,  if  so,  the  cards  stack  themselves  against 
the  owner  every  time.  Intelligence  and  skill  and  the  essential 
knowledge  on  which  correct  nutrition  is  predicated  must  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  successful  stockman.  I  emphasize,  therefore,  the 
necessity  of  encouraging  hundreds  of  boys  in  the  South  to  take 
the  necessary  courses  of  instruction  in  our  agricultural  colleges 
that  they  may  become  acquainted  with  the  science  and  art  of  an- 
imal nutrition  and  become  experts  in  the  handling  of  live  stock. 
Until  this  is  done  our  progress  will  be  of  the  more  or  less  blun- 
dering variety  and  our  losses  will  be  so  frequent  as  to  discourage 
rather  than  promote  what  in  the  very  nature  of  the  situation 
should  always  be  one  of  our  most  important  and  constructive  in- 
dustries. 

The  stockman  must  give  consideration  to  quality  in  his  ani- 
mals. If  he  is  not  willing  to  do  this  he  cannot  hope  to  succeed. 
The  South  is  very  backward  in  this  direction.  We  are  securing  a 
very  small  return,  for  instance,  from  the  dairy  cows  we  maintain. 
In  fact,  a  large  per  cent  of  them  are  unprofitable.  It  may  not 
seem  credible  to  every  person,  but  it  is  true  nevertheless  that  a 
cow  giving  300  pounds  of  butter  fat  in  a  lactation  period  made 
the  same  profit  as  forty-one  cows  each  yielding  131  pounds  of 
butter  in  a  lactation  period.  The  reason  for  this  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  costs  so  mucli  to  maintain  an  animal.  The  food  consumed 
in  maintenance  is  not  used  for  productive  purposes.  A  cow  of 
limited  assimilative  capacity  can  only  utilize  so  much  food.  We 
may  feed  her  more  than  a  given  amount  but  she  wastes  the  bal- 
ance. She  is  not  an  economical  manufacturer  of  milk  and  butter. 
We  must  get  rid,  therefore,  of  the  thief  in  the  dairy  herd,  and  we 
should  remember  that  there  are  thousands  of  them.  The  same  is 
true  of  our  beef  cattle  and  our  sheep  and  swine.  We  must  get  rid 
of  the  scrub  stock,  the  slow  developer,  and  the  animal  which  can 
not  eat  an  unusually  large  amount  of  food  and  assimilate  and 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  137 

digest  it  to  advantage  and  manufacture  therefrom  some  food  sub- 
stance of  value  to  the  owner  and  to  the  human  race.    We  must  scrub  Stock 
come  to  understand  that  animals  are  just  as  individualistic  as  hu-  Must  Go 
man  beings  and  we  must  get  rid  of  the  low-grade  stock  we  pos- 
sess if  we  are  to  be  successful  and  prosperous  as  live  stock  farmers. 

The  importance  of  this  matter  is  illustrated  in  the  following 
table,  which  shows  the  average  value  of  different  classes  of  farm 
animals  in  Georgia,  in  the  United  States,  and  in  the  states  where 
the  particular  class  of  animals  have  attained  the  highest  value. 
Georgia  figures  have  been  used  because  of  the  readiness  with 
which  they  may  be  applied  to  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
other  Southern  states  concerned : 


Average  Value  of  Live  Stock. 


Georgia. 

United  States. 

Values   in   Other 

States. 

Horses 

..$127.00 

$102.94 

Maine 

$152.00 

Mules 

..   163.00 

118.32 

New  Jersey 
Rhode  Island 

169.00 
77.00 

Dairy  Cows  . 

. .     37.00 

59.66 

Nebraska 
Wisconsin 

68.00 
65.00 

Illinois 

43.30 

Average 

Beef  Cattle  .  . 

. .     16.20 

35.88        J 

Nebraska 

44.30 

Value  of  Live 

Montana 

53.10 

Stock 

- 

Iowa 

8.80 

Sheep 

..       2.80 

7.14 

Nevada 
Idaho 

Connecticut 
New  Jersey 

8.20 

8.20 

17.50 

17.00 

Swine 

...      9.00 

11.73 

Maine 

Iowa 

Nebraska 

16.60 
15.50 
14.00 

Dairy  cows  in  Georgia  are  worth  on  an  average  $37.00  apiece ; 
in  Rhode  Island  $77.00;  and  in  the  United  States  $59.66.      In 
Nebraska  they  are  worth  $68.00,  and  in  Wisconsin.  $65.00.     Wis-  Pure  -  Bred 
consin  is  one  of  the  greatest  dairy  states,  and  one  can  understand  Sires  Mean 
why  their  cows  are  so  much  better  producers  than  ours  as  shown   '^^"ccess/H/ 
by  their  average  value.    Wisconsin  farmers  do  not  come  to  Georgia 
or  the  South  to  buy  high-producing  dairy  animals,  but  we  go  to 
them  for  this  purpose.    There  is  no  reason  why,  by  the  use  of  pure- 
bred sires,  the  elimination  of  unprofitable  animals,  and  the  proper 
feeding    and    maintenance    of    our    cows,    we    should  not  make 


138 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Natural  Ad- 
vantages of 
the  South 


them  worth  $65.00.  It  should  be  possible  to  add  several  million 
dollars  to  the  value  of  our  dairy  herds  every  year  by  the  process 
indicated.  In  a  state  like  Georgia,  for  instance,  we  should  be  able 
in  large  measure  to  replace  the  losses  which  the  weevil  might  in- 
flict on  us  through  the  improvement  of  our  dairy  cattle.  It  would 
not  break  us  to  do  it.  We  have  the  money  and  the  brains  and  the 
intelligence.  All  we  need  to  do  is  to  study  this  proposition  as 
seriously  as  we  have  studied  cotton  production.  Then,  educate  our 
boys,  use  pure-bred  sires  and  utilize  the  natural  facilities  which 
we  possess  to  attain  the  end  in  view. 

Take  the  case  of  beef  cattle.  They  are  worth  $16.20  apiece  in 
Georgia,  and  in  the  United  States  $35.88.  In  other  words,  our 
beef  cattle  are  of  a  low  grade.  They  dress  out  about  40  per  cent 
of  the  live  weight.  It  takes  them  about  a  year  or  so  longer  to 
mature  than  it  should.  They  do  not  finish  out  advantageously. 
When  shipped  to  consuming  centers  they  class  as  little  better  than 
scrubs  for  the  most  part.  In  Montana  the  average  beef  animal  is 
worth  $53.10,  in  Nebraska  $44.30,  and  in  Illinois  $43.30.  Montana 
beef  cattle  are  worth  more  than  three  times  as  much  as  Georgia 
beef  cattle.  This  has  been  brought  about  through  the  use  of  the 
pure-bred  sire,  the  elimination  of  the  scrub,  and  a  state-wide  cam- 
paign of  education. 

The  facts  presented  above  apply  with  equal  force  to  sheep  and 
swine.  As  a  result  of  the  boys'  pig  club  work  and  other  educa- 
tional forces  which  have  been  brought  into  play,  swine  in  Georgia 
are  now  credited  with  an  average  value  of  $9.00  as  compared  with 
$11.73  for  the  United  States.  In  Connecticut  they  are  worth 
$17.50,  or  almost  twice  as  much  as  in  Georgia;  in  New  Jersey 
$17.00,  and  in  Maine  $16.60.  In  this  connection  it  is  important  to 
remember  that  the  highest  priced  animals  in  the  United  States  in 
many  instances  are  in  states  which  can  not  produce  half  as  many 
food  crops  as  Georgia,  which  do  not  raise  anything  like  the  same 
quantity  or  variety  of  concentrates,  and  where  the  climatic  condi- 
tions are  most  imfavorable.  The  people  in  those  states  are  only 
able  to  compete  with  the  South  in  the  production  of  live  stock  be- 
cause of  the  special  study  they  have  made  of  this  business ;  because 
of  the  greater  skill  and  care  with  which  they  feed  and  handle  their 
animals ;  and  because  of  the  high  premium  they  have  placed  on 
quality  which  has  been  attained  through  the  use  of  pure-bred  sires. 
These  lessons  should  sink  deep  into  our  hearts,  because  they  con- 
stitute the  keystone  over  the  arch  of  success  as  it  applies  to  ani- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


139 


mal  production.  The  foregoing  figures  illustrate  a  point  which  I 
desire  to  again  re-emphasize  in  that  we  can  recoup  ourselves  for 
losses  due  to  the  boll  weevil  invasion  by  improving  the  quality 
of  our  live  stock  and  by  directing  attention  to  the  development 
of  animal  industries.  There  is  no  reason,  for  instance,  why  we 
should  not  increase  the  number  of  hogs  to  three  million  in  the 
course  of  a  couple  of  years,  thereby  adding  from  this  source 
alone  several  million  dollars  annually  to  the  revenue  of  our 
farms.  In  the  course  of  four  or  five  years  we  could  increase  the 
value  of  our  beef  and  dairy  cattle  by  a  similar  amount,  thus  giv- 
ing us  in  a  short  time  an  offset  of  twenty  to  twenty-five  million 
dollars  to  replace  any  losses  incident;  to  weevil  damage. 

The  latent  possibilities  of  live  stock  industries  are  nicely 
illustrated  by  what  has  been , accomplished  on  the  College  farm 
at  Athens  in  the  past  few  years.  This  farm  was  little  better 
than  an  abandoned  plantation  when  taken  over  in  1907.  The 
figures  presented ^below  show  the  value  of  the  live  stock  at  that 
time  and  at  subsequent  periods  up  to  June  1,  1916: 

Value  of  live  stock  on  College  farm  Sept.  1. 

1907 $  1,917.00 

Expenditures  for  live  stock  from   Sept.   1, 

1907,  to  June  1.  1916 9,683.60 

Value  of  live  stock  June  1,  1916 $17,310.00 

Sales  of  live  stock  Sept.  1,  1907,  to  June  1. 

1916 13.377.95 

Net  increased  value  plus  sales  above  ex- 
penditures for  purchase  of  live  stock.  .  19,087.35 


$30,687.95     $30,687.95 

Average  amount  expended  yearly  for  live  stock $  1.075.95 

Average  annual  sales  of  live  stock 1,491.98 

Average  net  yearly  increase  in  inventoried  value  of  live 

stock 1,710.33 

As  is  shown,  the  farm  started  with  $1,917  worth  of  live 
stock.  There  has  been  expended  for  the  purchase  of  live  stock 
during  the  past  nine  years  $9,683.60.  The  sales  of  live  stock  for 
nine  years  amount  to  $13,377.95.  while  the  value  of  the  live  stock 
as  inventoried  on  June.l,  1916,  was  $17,310.00.  The  net  increased 
value  plus  sales  above  expenditures  for  the  purchase  of  live 
stock,  therefore,  totaled  $19,087.35.     An  accurate  record  of  the 


What  Has 
Been  Done  on 
an  "Aban- 
doned" Farm 


140 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Percheron 
Mares  Suc- 
cessfully 
Grown  in  the 
South 


Two  -  Year  - 
Old  Hereford 
Steer  Sells  for 
$123.50  to  the 
Butcher 


number  of  animals  purchased  and  handled  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  have  been  disposed  of  has  been  kept  on  the  College 
farm  since  the  work  was  first  started.  This  will  give  some  idea 
of  what  can  be  done  on  a  farm  organized  along  the  lines  indi- 
cated. What  has  been  done  here  can  be  done  by  hundreds  of 
other  farmers  who  will  make  the  business  of  live  stock  breeding 
a  specialty  and  study  the  various  problems  involved  therein  in 
an  intelligent  manner.  It  is  worth  while  noting  that  while 
$1,075.95  was  spent  for  the  purchase  of  live  stock  each  year,  the 
annual  sales  amounted  to  $1,491.98,  and  the  average  net  yearly 
increase  in  the  inventoried  value  of  the  live  stock  to  $1,710.33. 
This  is  a  line  of  activity  which  the  young  men  of  the  South 
should  engage  in,  and  everyone  who  has  the  welfare  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  country  at  heart  or  who  is  concerned  about  reducing 
the  cost  of  living  or  supplying  our  markets  with  an  abundance 
of  choice  meat  and  dairy  products  will  lend  his  encouragement 
to  the  promotion  of  this  industry. 

It  has  been  thought  by  many  that  Percheron  mares  could 
not  be  maintained  successfully  in  the  South.  On  January  1, 
1911,  a  team  of  grade  mares  was  purchased  by  the  College  of 
Agriculture  for  $470.00.  They  have  done  the  same  amount  of 
work  as  any  team  of  mules  would  have  performed  in  the  past 
six  years.  Colts  to  the  value  of  $1,137.50  have  been  sold  from 
them  already  and  there  is  a  filly  on  hand  worth  $100.00,  making 
the  gross  return  from  these  two  animals  $1,237.50,  or  more  than 
two  and  a  half  times  their  original  purchase  price.  In  the  mean- 
time they  have  earned  their  board  and  keep.  The  man  who  can- 
not keep  Percheron  mares  on  his  farm  should  not  attribute  it  to 
climatic  or  soil  conditions,  but  to  carelessness  in  the  matter  of 
feeding  and  general  management. 

That  our  beef  industries  can  be  rapidly  and  profitably  built 
up  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  a  long  2-year-old  grade  Here- 
ford steer  weighing  1,450  pounds  was  recently  sold  to  an  Athens 
butcher  at  8.5  cents  a  pound  net,  or  for  $123.50  cash.  This  steer 
was  two  crosses  removed  from  a  native  cow  that  cost  $17.00.  It 
took  a  little  over  six  years  to  produce  him.  When  slaughtered 
he  dressed  out  64  per  cent  of  valuable  meat.  He  cost  the  butcher 
11  cents  a  pound  dressed.  The  same  butcher  purchased  a  car- 
load of  steers  at  5.5  cents.  They  cost  him  hung  up  on  the  hooks 
10.75  cents  a  pound,  but  the  high-grade  Hereford  steer  sold  for 
5  cents  a  pound  more  all  around,  and  hence  he  was  a  far  more 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  141 

profitable  animal  to  handle.  The  butcher  who  purchased  him 
with  misgivings  has  since  visited  the  College  and  wants  to  know 
when  we  will  have  some  more  like  him.  He  has  been  educated 
and  has  learned  that  quality  is  a  matter  of  surpassing  moment  in 
animals.  Persons  who  ate  the  meat  are  anxious  for  some  more  of 
the  same  character.  There  are  100,000  farms  in  the  South  where 
the  same  class  of  animal  can  be  produced  under  the  same  con- 
ditions in  a  period  of  six  years,  starting  with  a  pure-bred  sire  on 
native  stock.  It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  Hereford  steers 
sold  as  long  yearlings  by  the  College  attained  an  average  weight 
of  1,010  pounds  and  sold  at  $80.50  a  head  cash  on  the  farm. 

There  never  was  a  country  offering  greater  opportunities  to 
live  stock  men,  but  in  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered 
that  it  takes  a  keen,   analvtical,   constructive   business   man   to    „     • 

DllSlTlCSS 

run  a  live  stock  farm  just  as  well  as  it  does  to  run  a  law  bfifice,  a  Methods 
hardware  business  or  a  manufacturing  enterprise.     If  this  fact  Needed  in 
can  be  borne  into  the  consciousness  of  our  people  the  founda-  Live  Stock 
tion  will  have  been  laid  on  which  to  build  up  animal  industries   F<^^"^i"9 
of  proportions  calculated   to  serve  the  present  and  future  eco- 
nomic needs  of  the  South,  and  to  a  reasonable  degree,  the  nation 
as  a  whole. 


142  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

The  Animal  Industry  of  the 

South — Past,  Present  and 

Future 

By  Dr.  W.  H.  Dalrymple 

Professor  of  Veterinary  Science,  Louisiana  State 
University  and  A.  &  M.  College 

The  subject  assigned  to  me,  or  rather  to  tliat  distinguished 
scientist,  Dr.  Jno.  R.  Mohler.  Assistant  Chief  of  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  whose  place  I  am  presumed  to  fill 
on  the  programme,  is  a  very  large  one,  and  one  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  adequatel}'  cover  in  the  limited  space  of  time 
allotted  to  its  discussion. 

As  regards  the  past  of  animal  industry  in  the  South,  I  do 
not  believe  it  would  aid  us  much  at  this  time  to  dwell  to  any 
extent  on  the  conditions  that  are  behind  us,  unless  it  should  be 
to  utilize  our  remembrance  of  them,  along  with  what  we  know 
of  the  present,  to  help  us  build  more  solidly  for  the  future. 

There  is  one  thought,  however,  which  appeals  to  me  very 
S7o  "PI  '  strongly,  viz.,  that  if  we  expect  to  make  the  most  out  of  our 
With  Agricul-  S^^^^  agricultural  and  live  stock  possibilities  in  the  future  we 
ture"  will  have  to  consider  and  treat  them  in  a  much  more  serious 

manner  than  has  been  the  case  in  the  past,  or  as  some  seem  to 

view  them  even  at  the  present  time. 

Or,  to  quote  a  recent  remark  made  by  a  prominent  British 
agriculturist,  as  he  views  matters  at  the  present  time  in  that 
country,  and  which,  in  some  degree  at  least,  may  apply  to  us, 
viz.,  "We  can  play  with  politics,  .with  industry,  with  law,  and 
even  with  the  consuming  fires  of  civilized  ( ?)  warfare,  but  if  we 
value  the  future  of  our  country,  and  of  our  race,  we  cannot  any 
longer  afford  to  play  with  agriculture." 

The  great  cattle  ranges  of  the  West  are  rapidly  being  placed 
under  cultivation  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  ever-increasing  pop- 
ulation, both  natural  and  through  immigration,  and  which  may 
be  largely  added  to  after  the  world  is  again  at  peace,  who  have 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  143 

to  be  provided  with  occupations,  and  whose  stomachs  have  to  be 
filled.  In  fact,  one  of  the  greatest  economic  problems  confront- 
ing" us  at  the  present  moment  is,  how  to  increase  the  producing 
capacity  of  our  soils,  and  extend  our  cultivable  areas  to  the  ut- 
most, even  to  our  home  gardens  and  backyards,  not  only  to  keep 
pace  with  our  present-day  requirements  under  normal  conditions,  World  De- 
hut  to  meet  a  most  abnormal  state  occasioned  by  our  participa-  "'^""■^  More 
tion  in  a  world's  conflict.  The  call  for  the  highest  standard  of 
efficiency  in  the  production  and  conservation  of  food  does  not 
come  only  to  the  American  farmer,  but  the  cry  today  comes 
from  everywhere,  for  the  mobilization  of  the  world's  agricultural 
resources,  so  that  the  people  of  different  continents  may  not 
suffer  for  lack  of  the  necessities  of  life. 

For  some  time,  however,  we  have  been  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  problem  of  the  high  cost  of  living,  even  before  the  pres- 
ent international  crisis  became  so  acute,  and  we  have  heard  of 
many  attempts,  theoretical  and  otherwise,  to  reach  an  intelligent 
solution.  Might  we  not,  with  appropriateness,  ask  ourselves  the 
question :  If  agricultural  conditions  in  the  South  had,  all  of 
these  years,  been  in  keeping  with  her  possibilities,  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  daily  necessities  of  our  people,  in  the  matter  of 
food  supplies,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  would  conditions,  as 
we  find  them  today,  have  been  likely,  even  with  the  world  in  a 
state  of  war?    I  am  inclined  to  think  not! 

I  believe,  however,  that  the  South  will,  before  many  decades 
have  passed,  be  the  great  stock-raising  section  of  the  country, 
more  particularly  the  meat-producing  animals,  and  will,  after  we 
stop  "playing  with  agriculture,"  be  able  to  furnish  both  food  for 
our  people  and  enough,  and  to  spare,  of  the  feed  crops  necessary   The  South  as 
to  develop  and  maintain  a  largely  increased  animal  population.   '^  Nations 
In  short,  it  is  our  belief  that,  ultimately,  the  South  will  have  to      ^^^ 
come  to  the  rescue  in  preventing  the  risk  of  any  serious  break 
in  the  equilibrium  of  our  food  supply,  should  that  ever  occur ; 
and  I  also  believe  that  she  will  be  fully  equal  to  the  occasion. 

Up  to  the  present,  however,  and  in  a  general  way,  our 
Southern  country  has  not  even  approached  the  point  of  maximum 
production,  either  in  food  crops,  or  in  the  number  or  quality  of 
our  live  stock,  to  be  able  to  successfully  compete  with  other 
more  advanced  sections  in  the  great  metropolitan  markets.  And 
even  if  she  had,  especially  in  her  cattle  production,  there  are 


144 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


The  Tick  a 

Disappearing 

Menace 


Now  is  Time 
for  South  to 
Act 


considerable  areas  from  which  her  animals  would  be  excluded 
from  such  markets  because  of  Federal  restrictions  imposed  on 
account  of  the  presence  of  that  most  expensive  pest,  the  cattle  tick. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know,  however,  that  total  extermination 
of  this  parasite  is  a  question  of  only  a  few  more  years  of  co- 
operative effort ;  and  its  accomplishment  lies  at  the  very  foun- 
dation of  our  general  agricultural  prosperity  in  the  future. 

True,  the  cattle  tick  has  militated  very  seriously  against  our 
progress  in  the  production  of  improved  cattle;  but  our  chief  ob- 
struction, which  I  believe  is  now  generally  conceded,  has  been 
our  almost  universal  system  of  single-cropping. 

Doubtless,  and  on  account  of  the  world-wide  need  for  cot- 
ton, this  system  has,  temporarily  if  you  will,  brought  large  re- 
turns to  our  people. 

But,  under  such  a  system,  in  which  every  other  necessity  of 
the  farm  and  home  has  had  to  be  purchased  and  paid  for  out  of 
those  returns,  has  the  fertility  of  our  soils  been  increased ;  has 
it  increased  their  power  to  produce,  or  otherwise  enhanced  their 
value?    I  think  not! 

On  the  other  hand,  had  our  general  farming  system  been 
more  along  the  lines  of  diversification  and  crop  rotation,  includ- 
ing cotton,  necessarily,  and,  of  course,  live  stock,  and  with  in- 
telligent fertilization,  with  increased  yields  of  both  cash  crops 
and  those  for  consumption  by  our  farm  animals,  and  with  a  suf- 
ficiency of  the  latter  crops  to  bring  to  prime  market  condition 
the  meat-producing  animals,  such  as  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  and 
through  them  to  market  the  farm  feeds  and  forages  at  enhanced 
values,  conditions  might  have  assumed  a  very  different  aspect. 
In  short,  had  such  conditions  prevailed,  these  many  years,  and 
with  the  South  on  equal  footing  with  other  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, with  reference  to  our  great  markets,  is  it  reasonable  to  pre- 
sume, even  under  present  abnormal  conditions,  that  the  cry 
about  high-priced  necessities  would  have  had  to  be  so  vigorously 
proclaimed  all  over  the  land? 

But  up  to  the  present  time  it  may  be  said  that  the  South  has 
scarcely  been  reckoned  as  among  the  purveyors  of  the  nation's 
food  supply. 

This  condition,  however,  has  got  to  change ;  in  fact,  is  doing 
so  gradually,  if  not  as  rapidly  as  perhaps  one  could  wish.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  our  humble,  but  candid,  opinion   that  by 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  145 

taking  full  and  immediate  advantage  of  present  opportunities, 
and  with  the  further  possibilities  incident  to  the  utilization  of 
our  extensive  areas  of  unused  and  uncultivated  land,  the  South, 
in  a  reasonably  short  period  of  time,  should  not  only  be  able  to 
clothe  our  people  with  her  cotton  and  wool  products,  but  should 
have  a  large  share  in  the  feeding  of  them  with  the  cereals  and 
their  by-products,  and  with  toothsome  meat  from  her  well-bred, 
well-fed,  and  high-grade  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep. 

We  occasionally  hear  the  remark  that  the  South  is  a  splen- 
did "poor  man's  country,"  on  account  of  the  ease  with  which  a 
living  may  be  made. 

Such  a  statement  might  be  construed  into  a  reflection  upon 
our  past,  or,  in  some  cases,  our  present,  farming  methods.  And 
yet  it  is  a  most  eloquent  indorsement  of  the  fertility  of  our  soils 
that  they  have  been  able  to  even  support  such  methods.  But 
what  would  be  the  result  did  our  lands  receive  the  treatment 
which  would  be  bestowed  upon  them  by  a  more  intelligent  sys- 
tem of  husbandry;  where  the  farmer  made  a  more  thorough  .  infinite 
study  of  his  profession  or  calling;  made  a  business  of  farming  Possibilities. 
rather  than  a  means  to  eke  out  a  mere  existence ;  who  built  up 
his  soils ;  aimed  at  maximum  production ;  varied  his  products, 
both  in  field  crops  and  in  live  stock ;  kept  up  with  the  markets ; 
rotated  his  crops,  and  strived  to  produce  nothing  but  the  very 
best  his  land  would  yield,  and  that  the  market  demanded?  To 
try  to  even  picture  to  ourselves  the  prosperity  of  our  Southern 
country  under  such  conditions  would  be  practically  impossible. 

And,  yet,  it  is  just  such  conditions  that  we  must  aim  to  real- 
ize, if  we  may  hope  to  obtain  to  the  full  the  results  which  our 
opportunities  and  possibilities  have  placed  within  our  reach. 

Live  stock  is  an  absolute  necessity  on  every  well-regulated 
farm,  not  merely  out  of  sentiment,  as  some  still  seem  to  think, 
but  as  a  necessary  adjunct  to  the  business,  that  can  be  employed  j,,  Necessitu 
as  local  factories,  if  you  will,  through  which  the  cheaper  raw  fQj.  j^i^g  Stock 
materials  grown  may  be  converted  into  high-priced  finished 
products,  in  the  form  of  high-class  beef,  mutton,  pork,  etc.,  which 
can  be  marketed  "on  the  hoof." 

In  fact,  one  could  scarcely  imagine  a  more  inharmonious  en- 
terprise, or  a  more  discordant  undertaking,  than  an  otherwise 
modern  farm  holding  without  its  due  quota  of  improved  live 
stock  of  different  varieties. 


146 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Forage  Crops 
Abundant 


Many  Useful 
By-Products 


And  yet,  even  today,  it  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  to  see 
nondescript  animals  occupying  valuable  space,  on  many  of  our 
farming  properties,  that  are  forced  to  eke  out  a  precarious  ex- 
istence, as  best  they  can,  or  die  in  the  effort. 

We  all  must  admit,  however,  that  the  climate  of  the  South 
is  ideal  for  live  stock  husbandry,  in  all  of  its  departments,  from 
the  growing  of  the  food  crops  to  the  finishing  of  the  product  for 
market. 

Forage  crops,  in  great  variety,  grow  with  a  luxuriance  that 
would  "tickle  the  palate"  and  "whet  the  appetite"  of  the  most 
fastidious  and  epicurean  of  our  herbivorous  animals. 

Among  the  legumes,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  alfalfa, 
which  may  be  used  for  grazing,  for  soiling,  or  for  hay.  Les- 
pedeza,  our  great  Southern  clover,  which  makes  a  most  valuable 
hay,  and  enhances  the  value  of  our  pasture  when  mixed  with  our 
native  grasses.  The  cow  pea,  the  soy  bean,  the  velvet  bean,  the 
clovers  and  some  of  the  vetches,  etc.,  all  furnish  abundant  and 
nutritious  food  for  live  stock. 

In  short,  the  South  has,  or  can  have,  a  superabundance,  both 
as  to  quantity  and  variety,  of  these  most  valuable  nitrogen- 
gathering,  soil-improving,  and  protein-producing  forages,  so  im- 
portant for  the  upbuilding  and  maintenance  of  soil  fertility,  as 
well  as  the  nutrition  of  animal  life  on  the  farm. 

In  some  sections  of  the  South  pasturage  may  be  secured 
practically  the  year  round  by  sowing  almost  any  of  the  small 
cereals  as  catch  crops,  after  the  staple  crops  have  been  harvested, 
which  yield  abundantly  during  the  fall  and  winter  months,  and 
furnish  succulent  food  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  such  is  in 
greatest  need. 

Silage  crops,  also,  in  addition  to  corn,  such  as  sorghum,  etc.. 
and  root  crops  of  different  varieties,  produce  with  great  abun- 
dance, and  may  be  used  to  supply  excellent  succulent  feed  for 
cattle,  hogs  and  sheep,  after  ordinary  pasturage  has  been  de- 
pleted by  the  summer's  grazing. 

But  while  that  which  we  have  enumerated  might  appear  as 
more  than  sufficient  to  meet  all  practical  needs  in  the  matter  of 
live  stock  feed  production,  it  is  by  no  means  all.  In  addition, 
there  are  the  important  by-products  from  our  cotton  fields ;  and 
in  some  parts  of  the  South,  those  from  our  rice  industry,  and 
from  our  sugar  cane  fields  and  factories. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


147 


With  such  possibihties,  then,  in  our  feed  production,  our 
abundance  in  cereal  crops,  our  many  nutritious  hays,  and  other 
roughage  supplies,  our  winter  pasture  crops  and  natural  grazing, 
although  much  of  the  latter  is  yet  to  be  availed  of,  and  in  the 
rich  concentrates  in  the  by-products  of  our  cotton,  rice  and  sugar, 
if  the  future  of  stock  raising  in  the  South  should  not  appear 
bright,  even  to  the  most  casual  observer,  one  is  inclined  to  won- 
der where  else  he  would  go  to  satisfy  his  desires  in  that  branch 
of  husbandry. 

That  all  varieties  of  farm  animals  do  well  in  the  South,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  state  that  all  of  the  principal  breeds,  and  kinds, 
are  already  represented,  including  horses  and  mules,  beef  and 
dairy  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep.  And  not  only  so,  but  each  has  its 
organizations,  in  the  different  states,  specially  devoted  to  im- 
provement and  greater  development  of  the  breeds. 

In  addition  to  the  increasing  interest  being  displayed  in  our 
live  stock  production,  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  Southern  states 
have  taken  steps  to  protect,  from  the  ravages  of  fatal  animal 
diseases,  this  important  industry.  I  refer  to  the  enactment,  by 
the  different  states,  of  suitable  live  stock  sanitary  legislation, 
and  the  creation  or  appointment  of  boards  or  commissions  to  see 
that  it  is  carried  into  effect. 

Such  legislation  not  only  affords  protection  to  the  live  stock 
interests  of  a  state,  but  it  gives  encouragement  to  prospective 
immigrants  who  expect  to  make  the  production  of  live  stock  a 
feature  of  their  farm  practice. 

There  is  one  very  important  project,  vitally  connected  with 
the  live  stock  business,  which  should  not  be  overlooked  in  these 
remarks. 

Hitherto,  one  of  the  chief  drawbacks  to  the  live  stock  in- 
dustry, especially  in  the  more  southerly  states,  has  been  the 
inaccessibility  of  the  best  markets,  which  has  militated  consider- 
ably against  the  more  profitable  disposal  of  stock,  and,  neces- 
sarily, has  discouraged  many  producers. 

This  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  will  very  shortly  be  cor- 
rected, however,  by  the  erection  and  establishment  of  a  large 
packing  plant  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  which  will  be  oper- 
ated by  the  enterprising  firm  of  Morris  &  Company. 

Such  a  plant  will  not  only  care  for  a  large  amount  of  our 
surplus  stock,  but  will  afford   an   immense  stimulus  to  greater 


Legislation 
Fosters  Live 
Stock  Raising 


Providing 
Markets  for 
Live  Stock 


148  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

and  better  production  on  the  part  of  our  people;  and  we  trust 
will  prove  entirely  profitable  to  those  responsible  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  and  important  enterprise. 

I  believe  all  of  us  must  be  convinced  of  the  South's  unex- 
hvery  ''OCH-  cgHg^j  possibilities  in  live  stock  production,  of  which  many  of 
itu  Available  ,     .  i        i         ,  j  ■  ,  r  i 

our  people  have  already  taken  advantage,  with  profit  to  them- 
selves. 

We  already  have  an  abundance  of  food  materials  for  animals 
that  would  surprise  even  a  Northern  or  Western  stockman,  and 
these  are  capable  of  large  increase. 

We  have  broad  acres  of  unoccupied  fertile  lands  which 
simply  await  the  touch  of  the  intelligent  husbandman  in  "order 
to  spring  into  full  fruition,  and  add  more  wealth  and  prosperity 
to  our  Southern  country. 

We  have  representatives  of  almost  every  breed  and  variety 
of  live  stock,  and  an  increasing  interest  constantly  being  mani- 
fested in  their  greater  development. 

We  have  adequate  legislation,  in  practically  all  of  the  South- 
ern states,  to  afford  protection  against  the  fatal  diseases  to  which 
farm  animals  are  susceptible,  and  which  gives  encouragement  to 
those  engaged  in  the  industry. 

We  have  our  State  Boards  of  Agriculture  to  look  after  and 
foster  the  industry  from  the  standpoint  of  the  state. 

We  have  our  State  Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  our  Experi- 
ment Stations,  and  our  various  branches  of  Agricultural  Exten- 
sion Service,  all  bending  their  efforts  to  educate  and  inform  our 
citizens,  and  encourage  and  increase  interest  in  this  great  work. 

In  short,  we  not  only  have  the  materials  to  work  with,  but, 
in  addition,  various  and  important  agencies  laboring,  in  an  edu- 
cational way,  for  the  good  of  the  cause ;  and  which  are  being 
more  and  more  taken  advantage  of  by  our  people,  and  through 
which  advancement  is  being  made. 

And  we  now  have  one  of  the  most  valuable  aids  to  the  stock 

Cheap  Money  grower  in  the  development  of  his  industry,  viz.,  the  privilege  of 

a  Help  the  use  of  money,  which  he  may  obtain  on  reasonable  terms, 

through  the  medium  of  the  recently  established  Federal  Farm 

Loan  Banks. 

One  would  naturally  -imagine,  therefore,  that  all  of  the  needs 
of  the  South  had  already  been  amply  provided,  and  that  nothing 
more  was  necessary  but  to  go  ahead  and  prosper;  and  in  a  meas- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  149 

ure  that  is  quite  true.  However,  while  possession  of  the  raw 
material  is  of  the  first  importance,  we  cannot  expect  to  make 
the  most  out  of  it  unless  we  intelligently  employ  the  appropriate 
tools  or  machinery  through  which  to  bring  it  to  a  state  of  per- 
fection in  the  finished  product.  And  so  it  is  with  our  possibili- 
ties ;  they  are  not  going  to  benefit  us  as  they  should  unless  we  » 
use  every  effort,  and  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity,  to 
develop  them  to  their  highest  state  of  perfection. 

In  emphasizing  one  or  two  of  our  most  important  needs,  as  , 

I  see  them,  I  will  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  must  double  our 
efforts  to  wipe  the  cattle  tick  from  off  the  map  of  the  Southern 
states.  This  is  a  fundamental  necessity  in  connection  with  the 
future  success  of  our  cattle  industry  at  least,  and  that  is  perhaps 
the  most  important. 

In  the  second  place,  we  need  more  and  better  live  stock 
through  which  to  market  our  food  crops,  and  help  increase  and 
maintain  the  fertility  of  our  lands ;  and  we  need  our  own  people 
to  devote  more  time  and  study  to  the  rational  and  business  sides 
of  animal  husbandry  and  general  farming. 

In  the  third  place,  we  need  an  open  market,  anywhere  and 
everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  especially  for  our  cattle,  which  will 
depend  solely,  however,  upon  the  total  extermination  of  the  cattle 
tick  from  the  Southern  states,  and  upon  which,  likewise,  depends 
the  improvement  of  our  cattle,  through  the  influence  of  improved 
animals,  particularly  males,  that  can  then  be  imported  from  the 
best  herds  of  the  country ;  and 

In  the  fourth  place,  we  need  more  immigration  of  the  de- 
sirable, intelligent  and  industrious  farmer-stockman  class,  whose 
life  and  business  experience  have  hitherto  been  devoted  to  the 
branches  of  stock  raising  and  general  agriculture,  which  we  be- 
lieve the  South  stands  in  greatest  need  of,  at  the  present  time, 
for  her  general  agricultural  upbuilding. 

Good  object  lessons  are,  in  great  measure,  what  we  require;  Present 
and  this  is,  I  believe,  the  kind  of  help  we  need,  and  want,  to  Encouraging 
assist  us  develop  our  great  natural  resources,  and,  as  we  all  be-  ^"^^"'"^^ 
lieve,  our  unparalleled  possibilities. 

In  summing  up,  therefore,  I  believe  we  can  pass  over  the 
past  of  the  live  stock  industry  of  the  South;  but  we  can  say  that 
the  present  is  encouraging,  and  that  the  future  seems  bright. 


150  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

At  this  momentous  period  of  the  country's  history,  in  fact,  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  I  would  like  to  close  with  a  brief  statement. 

Owing  to  the  unfortunate  international  conditions  existing,  the 
cry  of  the  world  today  is  for  food,  and  yet  more  food ;  and  just  how 
long  this  cry  may  last,  from  both  combatant  and  neutral  peoples, 
it  is  impossible  at  this  time  to  form  anything  like  an  accurate 
conception. 

The  man  on  whom  the  world  has  always  had  to  depend  for  its 
food  supply,  and  the  only  one  who  is  now  able  to  satisfy  the  present, 
and  perhaps  future,  demand  for  the  necessities  of  life  in  the  matter 
of  food,  is  the  Farmer.  The  farmer,  therefore,  who  puts  forth  his 
utmost  effort  to  make  the  proverbial  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where 
only  one  grew  before,  is  just  as  much  a  patriot,  and  defender  of 
his  country,  as  the  private  in  the  trenches,  or  the  "Jackie"  on  the 
quarter-deck. 

Consequently,  and  as  an  imperative  national  duty,  it  should 
behoove  every  owner  and  occupier  of  land  to  utilize,  tO'  the  ver}^ 
utmost,  every  available  inch,  so  to  speak,  in  the  production  of  more 
and  more  food,  both  for  man  and  beast,  in  order  that  not  only  our 
own  people,  but  the  world  at  large,  may  not  continue  to  suffer  in 
consequence  of  any  shortage ;  and  in  order  that  our  producers  may 
be  stimulated  to  maximum  efforts  in  this  direction,  and  that  they 
may  not  be  forgetful  of  their  responsibilities,  they  should  keep 
continually  reminding  themselves,  by  having  emblazoned  on  their 
banner  that  now  famous  patriotic  slogan,  "Your  Country  Needs 
You !" 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  151 

The    Railroads'    Interest    in 
Cut-Over    Land   De- 
velopment 

By  D.C.  Welty 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  St.  Louis,  Iron 
Mountain  and  Southern  Railway 

Mr.  Chairman : — I  sincerely  regret  that  the  urgency  of  food 
production  preparedness  work  and  the  rapidly  progressing  planting 
season  prevent  my  remaining  over  another  day  and,  as  you  have 
stated  that  I  yvould  be  called  upon  during  tomorrow's  session,  I 
ask  the  privilege  of  a  word  in  behalf  of  one  of  the  railroads  which 
probably  has  as  much  cut-over  land  along  its  right-of-way  as  any 
one  road  in  the  South ;  and  as  secretary-treasurer  of  the  Railway 
Development  Association,  which  numbers  among  its  members  the 
development  men  of  90  per  cent  of  the  railroad  mileage  of  the 
United  States,  I  want  to  say  in  their  behalf  that  we  hope  tomorrow's 
meeting  will  not  close  without  some  definite  action  on  the  part  of 
the  cut-over  land  owners  and  for  the  purpose  of  putting  their  vast 
holding  to  some  productive  use. 

We  have  listened  to  many  able  addresses  upon  Southern  agri- 
cultural possibilities  and  the  agricultural  problems  of  the  cut-over 
land  areas,  but,  gentlemen,  if  I  understand  the  situation  correctly, 
you  are  here  to  consider  ways  and  means  of  marshaling  the  forces  Definite 
of  the  cut-over  land  owners,  so  that  these  owners  can,  in  co-opera-  Organization 
tion  with  the   Department  of   Agriculture  and   other  development   Urged 
agencies,  put  this  knowledge  into  practice,  get  people  happily  located 
on  the  land  and  develop  the  country.    I  also  believe  that  reforesta- 
tion of  the  poorer  lands  justifies  energetic  consideration. 

Every  speaker  has  mentioned  that  he  is  an  optimist  as  to 
Southern  agricultural  possibilities,  both  as  to  live  stock  and  food 
production.  It  is  true  that  there  is  no  great  accumulation  of  ex- 
perience or  data  to  eliminate  every  doubt,  but  it  is  quite  evident 
that  there  are  great  possibilities.  These  possibilities  have  been 
ably  covered  by  Mr.  Piper,  Mr.  Rommell,  Mr.  Tracy,  Dr.  Dodson 


152 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Raili'oads 
Anxious  to 
Assist 


Settler  Must 
Be  Liberally 
Financed 


and  others  who  have  addressed  us,  and  these  gentlemen  and  their 
associates  and  assistants  are  available  to  put  most  efificient  and 
profitable  agricultural  practices  in  efifect.  The  agricultural  depart- 
ments already  know  and  are  practicing  the  things  which  will  make 
for  success,  and  this  knowledge  simply  must  be  put  in  practice  and 
much  agricultural  demonstration  work  done.  The  great  problem 
lies  with  you  men  who  own  this  land — most  potent  of  possibilities 
but  at  present  inactive,  unused,  covered  with  stumps  and  rapidly 
being  covered  with  underbrush. 

It  is  a  question  of  financing  and  farsighted  business  adminis- 
tration and  agricultural  demonstration  in  which  each  with  the  help 
of  existing  agencies  will  have  to  solve  his  individual  problems, 
and  in  which,  collectively  and  as  an  association,  you  can  most  eco- 
nomically do  much  of  mutual  benefit,  and  for  each  other  as  in- 
dividuals. 

The  railroads  have  for  years  seen  the  timber  cut  and  shipped 
away  leaving  idle  land^  and  just  as  the  lumberman  faces  the  end  of 
his  cutting  and  cessation  of  profitable  activity  unless  his  land  is  util- 
ized, just  so  do  many  railroads  face  unprofitable  operation  unless 
these  lands  are  exploited  and  reforested  and  developed  by  settle- 
ment by  good  and  successful  farmers.  The  development  men  of 
the  railroads  realize  the  importance  of  the  situation  and  have  given 
the  subject  much  thought,  as  is  evident  by  the  fact  that  practically 
every  railroad  is  well  represented  at  this  meeting.  I  see  at  least 
twelve  railroad  development  men  here  who  are  vitally  interested, 
and  all  ready  to  do  their  part  when  conditions  justify  energetic 
co-operation. 

Some  people  think  that  there  is  at  present  no  demand  for  cut- 
over  land,  but  that  is  not  the  case.  Our  Colonization  Department 
has  for  months  had  unfilled  demands  for  Southern  cut-over  land, 
and  it  would  be  a  simple  matter  to  stimulate  the  demand  for  such 
land  were  the  railroads  to  get  vigorously  behind  the  movement; 
but,  gentlemen,  it  will  take  more  than  exploitation  and  agricultural 
advice  to  successfully  colonize  the  cut-over  land  area. 

First,  all  must  appreciate  that  the 'colonist  is  no  longer  a  pioneer. 
The  day  of  isolation,  the  squirrel  hunter,  the  log  cabin  and  rail 
fence  are  past.  In  this  day  of  high-priced  labor  the  settler  will  not 
undergo  unnecessary  hardship  and  the  man  with  enough  energy 
to  move  to  a  land  of  greater  opportunity  will  not  put  up  with  slow, 
inefficient    methods.      Furthermore,    the    land-seller,    community, 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  153 

county,  state  and  nation  can  no  longer  afford  to  let  men  individually 
hack  away  on  the  old-fashioned  land-clearing  methods. 

If  a  settler  is  an  asset,  it  is  a  business  investment  to  do  such 
things  as  will  get  him  started  economically  and  efficiently  and,  as 
in  this  day  and  age,  he  won't  come  unless  we  do  make  conditions 
attractive,  we  have  no  alternative.  The  successful,  present-day 
colonization  methods  tend  strongly  toward  paternalism. 

The  colonization  project  must  be  liberally  financed  in  order  to 
enable  selling  with  small  initial  payments  and  deferred  payments 
extended  over  a  long  period  of  years  with  reasonable  interest.  The 
average  immigrant  has  little  money  and  what  he  has  can  be  utilized 
best  for  the  operation  of  his  farming  efforts  rather  than  for  large 
payments  on  the  land.  If  the  land  is  not  good  security  for  the  de- 
ferred payments,  especially  with  the  colonist  on  it  and  improving 
it  every  day,  the  project  is  not  worthy  of  consideration. 

Again  liberal  financing  is  necessary  because  at  least  one-half 
and  in  all  cases  as  much  as  possible  of  every  farm  unit  that  is  put 
on  the  market  should  be  cleared  and  ready  for  crop  as  soon  as  the 
colonist  locates,  and  experience  has  demonstrated  that  if  part  of 
the  farm  is  fenced  by  the  buyer  and  a  house  and  barn  built,  which 
he  can  pay  for  in  his  deferred  payments,  that  is  a  great  attraction. 
It  also  takes  money  to  carry  on  the  demonstration  work  which 
will  guide  his  efforts  most  efficiently. 

Schools,  churches,  stores  and  community  centers  all  must  be 
made  available  in  one  way  or  another.  It  all  takes  money  and 
liberal  financing  is  justified  and  of  utmost  importance. 

Another  fact  that  must  be  given  due  consideration  is  that  the 
land-selling  business  has  been  developed  by  specialists  into  a  busi- 
ness in  itself.  It  might  almost  be  termed  a  science,  and  the  land 
owners  individually  and  collectively  will  sooner  or  later  appreciate 
that  success  depends  upon  either  paying  for  considerable  costly  ex- 
perience, if  they  handle  the  sales  themselves,  or  must  pay  a  fair 
price  for  the  expert  services  and  the  tediously  built-up  organiza- 
tions of  those  who  have  specialized  upon  land-selling. 

The  problems  of  organization  and  administration  which  con- 
front each  land  owner  individually  are  very  great  and  no  one  of   Co-o  Deration 
you  can  afford  to  study  them  out  alone.     Therefore,  I  hope  this   Jsjecessary    to 
meeting  will  not  close  without  some  form  of  co-operative  associa-   Best  Results 
tion  being  inaugurated. 


154 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Productivity 
of  Cut-Over 
Lands 

Already  Dem- 
onstrated 


At  various  times  large  land  owners  in  our  territory  have  dis- 
cussed with  me  the  possibility  of  developing  their  lands  but  it  has 
always  seemed  to  me  that  the  fundamentals  should  be  worked  out 
co-operatively.  Especially  in  the  matter  of  land-clearing  is  much 
investigation  necessary,  and  the  expense  of  such  an  investigation, 
which  would  be  equally  valuable  to  all,  should  not  be  a  burden  to 
any  one  owner.  Neither  is  it  to  be  expected  that  any  one  state 
should  do  it  for  all  the  other  states.  If  the  Federal  Department 
would  do  it,  well  and  good,  and  an  association  could  do  well  to 
bring  all  possible  influence  to  bear  in  favor  of  such  an  investigation. 
However,  if  it  is  not  done  otherwise  it  would  be  an  excellent  activ- 
ity for  a  co-operative  organization  of  cut-over  land  owners. 

Mr.  Carl  Livingston,  of  the  Forest  Products  Laboratory  in 
Wisconsin,  and  who  will  address  you  tomorrow,  has  some  very  val- 
uable data  and  has  done  some  great  work.  I  went  to  Northern  Wis- 
consin to  see  one  of  his  demonstrations  and  I  have  followed  his 
work  closely.  However,  only  yesterday  in  talking  with  me  on 
the  subject  he  remarked :  "You  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  slowly 
we  are  progressing  in  accumulating  definite  and  dependable  figures." 
He  mentioned  the  many  difficulties  which  have  confronted  him,  a 
specialist  in  the  work.  I  mention  the  matter  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  you  should  not  as  individuals  try  to  solve  the  problem.  It  is 
a  matter  you  should  handle  collectively.  Just  as  the  implement 
dealers  have  financed  the  work  of  farm  implement  specialists  for 

some  of  the  state  agricultural  college  e> tension  departments,  just 
so  could  you  land  owners  collectively,  if  you  were  organized,  finance 
such  investigations  as  you,  after  study  of  the  situation,  might  find 
practical. 

It  is  true  that  the  agricultural  industry  is  not  universally 
and  highly  developed  upon  the  cut-over  land  of  the  South  and 
that  many  details  will  have  to  be  worked  out.  How^ever,  every 
speaker  has  emphasized  his  optimism  as  to  the  possibilities,  so, 
bearing  in  mind  the  many  individual  successes  we  know  of  on 
cut-over  land,  the  great  study  both  State  and  Federal  authori- 
ties have  made  of  the  subject  and  their  ability  to  cope  with  it 
when  the  need  arises,  let  us  concede  that  we  can  raise  the  vari- 
ous crops  that  have  been  mentioned.  Let  us  concede  that  the 
live  stock  industry  has  great  possibilities  on  cut-over  land,  and, 
in  tomorrow's  session,  progress  to  the  great  questions  of  indi- 
vidual and  collective  organization  and  administration  and  agri- 
cultural demonstration  which  confront  the  cut-over  land  owner. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  155 

I,  personally,  am  engaged  in  general  farming  and  commer- 
cial dairying  on  cut-over  land.  I  believe  the  business  has  great 
possibilities,  and,  in  view  of  my  interest  in  the  efforts  of  many 
of  my  friends  along  our  line,  who  have  cut-over  lands  now  lying 
idle,  in  the  interest  of  our  railroad,  which,  unless  you  develop 
your  land,  will  have  an  inactive  railroad  through  your  inactive 
land,  also  in  behalf  of  the  railroads  generally  and  the  many 
thousands  of  people  desiring  to  locate  on  inexpensive  land,  I 
earnestly  hope  that  these  problems  will  be  put  to  the  front  to- 
morrow and  constructive  efforts  inaugurated.  I  regret  that  I 
cannot  be  with  you. 
(Applause.) 


What   Florida   Is   Doing  in 
Land  Development 

By  James  R.  Murphy 

President  of  the  Florida  Land  Development  and 
Colonization  Association 

On  behalf  of  the  State  of  Florida,  which  unfortunately  is 
very  poorly  represented,  I  must  tell  you,  if  you  will  bear  with 
me  for  a  minute  or  two,  what  we  have  done  along  the  lines  of 
organization.  I  have  no  inference  to  what  has  been  said  here 
by  anyone,  but  it  may  in  a  measure  help  to  solve  the  problem 
that  confronts  us  all. 

I  have  the  honor  of  being]  president  of  the  land  development 
and  colonization  interests  of  the  State  of  Florida.     We  have  in 
Florida,  at  the  present  time,   141   recognized  land  development   ^,^   Concerns 
concerns.     Of  that  141,  we  have  20  of  them  in  our  organization  Successfully 
We  have  an  area  of  land  in  Florida  of  some  36  million  acres.   Operating 
Of  that  36  million  acres  we  have  less  than  5  per  cent  of  it  under 
cultivation.     In   our  organization   we   have  a   representation   of 
about  3   million   acres   of   land,   mostly  cut-over  land.     Florida 
has  been  in  the  public  press  through  the  exploitations  of  some 
of  her  unfortunate  land  operators  in  the  past  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  a  land  operator  to  make  a  liv- 
ing in  the  state ;  and  realizing  that  this  existed  throughout  the 


Lends    Valua- 
ble Assistance 


156  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

country,  we  organized  our  land  development  and  colonization 
organization,  which  had  for  its  purpose  the  standardizing  of  the 
sale  of  land.  The  standardizing  of  the  sale  of  land  carried  with 
it  the  demonstration  of  what  the  land  was  capable  of  producing, 
Government  and  so  that  organization  had  to  establish  demonstration  farms. 
We  searched  in  every  part  of  the  country  for  all  available  infor- 
mation, and  the  Departments  of  Agriculture  have  been  untiring 
in  their  efforts  to  give  us  assistance.  In  fact,  they  have  sent 
men  down  time  and  again  to  answer,  perhaps,  the  same  question ; 
and  we  in  Florida  feel  greatly  indebted  to  them.  They  have 
taught  us  what  grasses  to  grow  ;  they  have  taught  us  the  use  and 
advantages  of  the  dipping  vat ;  and  the  lumbermen  in  Florida  have 
taken  steps  for  the  raising  of  $50,000  a  year,  spending  $150,000  over 
a  period  of  three  years,  in  a  statewide  campaign  of  tick  eradica- 
tion ;  and  this  was  through  the  initiative  of  the  Southern  Settlement 
and  Development  organization,  co-operating  with  the  Department 
of  the  State  and  our  largest  land  owners  in  the  state.  Mr.  P.  L. 
Sutherland,  who  represents  one  of  the  largest  land  owners  in  the 
state,  has  very  ably  helped  the  work ;  and,  gentlemen,  I  have  merely 
mentioned  these  facts  so  as  to  suggest  to  the  various  other  states 
represented  here  that  in  the  solution  of  this  great  problem  we  real- 
ized, in  Florida,  that  the  most  necessary  step,  first,  was  a  state 
organization ;  and  we  are  now  ready  tO'  step  into  any  organization 
that  is  formed  for  the  betterment  of  the  South. 

J.  Lewis  Thompson :  On  behalf  of  the  cut-over  land  owners 
who  called  this  meeting,  I  want  to  say — and  I  don't  believe  I  am 
the  most  intelligent,  but  I  believe  I  am  about  the  average — I 
want  to  say  to  you  men  here  today  that  the  reason  we  are  here 
is  because  we  do  not  know.  We  are  groping  in  the  dark.  Re- 
gardless of  our  railroad  friends — they  have  always  felt  like 
whenever  they  wanted  to  say  most  anything  they  went  to  the  lum- 
bermen and  got  by  with  it.  I  think  our  railroad  friend  there 
was  talking  to  me  and  to  these  others,  because  I  am  used  to  that 
kind  of  talk  coming  from  the  railroads. 

I  want  to  say.  on  behalf  of  the  land  owners,  that  we  are  in 
the  dark,  and  in  their  behalf  I  want  to  say  that  we  have  had  a 
most  instructive  and  the  best  papers  that  I  have  ever  heard  in 
any  meeting;  and  my  only  regret  is  that  our  entire  organization 
could  not  have  heard  every  paper  read  here,  because  I  believe  that 
before  we  can  go  down  to  the  point  of  forming  some  kind  of  an 
organization  permanently,  what  we  must  do  is  to  tell  you  what 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  157 


we  have  got  to  do  before  we  can  get  down  to  the  organization 
period ;  and  if  our  railroad  men  will  stay  with  us  until  tomor- 
row— and  if  they  are  interested  in  this  vast  area  of  76  million 
acres,  if  they  are  interested  to  the  point  that  some  of  them  have 
said — no  other  business  could  call  them  away;  they  can  come 
in  and  if  we  can't  form  an  organization  we  will  certainly  give 
them  an  opportunity  to  contribute.  (Applause.)  I  am  glad  that 
speech  has  been  made  by  a  railroad  man,  because  I  believe  it  is 
time  that  one  railroad  was  waking  up  to  the  needs  of  the  coun- 
try and  co-operating  with  us  in  the  upbuilding  of  that  country. 
I  am  glad,  too,  that  he  made  that  statement,  because  I  believe 
we  will  get  down  to  something  before  we  leave. 


Demonstration  Work  on 
Cut-Over  Lands 

By  G.  E.  Nesom 

Superintendent  of  Livestock  Extension  Work  in 

Louisiana  for  the  United  States  Department 

of  Agriculture 

Mr.  Chairman,  Members  of  the  Convention,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen : — I  promise  you  that  I  will  not  burden  you  with  a 
lengthy  speech  this  morning,  and  that  I  have  nothing  prepared 
especially  for  this  occasion.  I  will,  in  the  main,  refer  to  things 
that  have  already  been  said.  Those  of  you  who  have  read  "Peck's 
Bad  Boy"  in  your  early  youth,  probably  remember  the  situation 
of  the  man  who  was  good  at  figuring.  After  he  had  exhausted 
a  good  many  other  topics,  he  began  to  figure  on  the  cost  of  Right  and 
fencing;  and  he  found  that  to  fence  one  acre  of  land  it  took  a  ^^^^9  Ways 
fence  four  acres  long,  and  cost,  after  calculating  the  value  of  the 
materials,  and  labor,  a  certain  sum ;  that  by  quadrupling  this 
area  and  making  the  fenced  area  four  acres,  it  only  took  twice  as 
much  to  fence  the  four  acres  as  one  acre,  therefore  reducing  the 
cost  by  one-half;  and  proceeding  in  mathematical  progression, 
grew  to  those  enormous  proportions  by  which  he  finally  found 
that  to  fence  an  area  stretching  off  to  the  Aurora  Borealis,  and 
eastward  to  the  rising  sun,  and  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 


158 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Demonstra- 
tion Needed 
More  Tlian 
Experimenta- 
tion 


and  westward  to  the  Golden  gate,  the  cost  of  fencing-  a  single 
acre  had  been  reduced  so  that  a  single  toothpick  would  fence  it 
and  leave  enough  to  build  a  church.     (Laughter.) 

Now%  we  might  do  a  little  figuring  on  the  immensity  of  this 
cut-over  land  proposition.  Our  Chairman  told  us,  on  the  open- 
ing morning  here,  that  there  w^ere  some  70  million  acres  of  this 
land,  and  that  it  would  produce,  under  certain  conditions,  from  a 
thousand  to  two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  produce.  This  is  al- 
most enough  to  give  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United 
States  a  farm  of  one  acre ;  and  if  they  were  settled  on  those 
farms,  and  each  of  them  produced  the  minimum  of  one  thousand 
dollars,  the  vast  sum  of  w^ealth  represented  by  those  farms  would 
be  70  billion  dollars ;  a  sum,  by  the  side  of  which  the  7  billion 
dollars  that  our  Congress  is  now  being  asked  to  appropriate  to 
finance  our  army  and  our  navy  and  the  Allied  Nations  of  the 
world,  would  be  merely  the  usual  10  per  cent  waiter's  tip. 

But  this  kind  of  calculation  savors  of  the  millennium ;  it  is 
the  theoretical  view.  This  convention  has  to  do  with  not  only  an 
average,  but  with  a  very  practical  problem,  and  the  question  im- 
mediately involved  now  is  that  of  developing  and  bringing  into 
productive  use  as  much  of  this  land  as  possible  on  a  purely  prac- 
tical farming  basis. 

A  good  many  suggestions  have  been  broached  here  and  a 
good  many  ideas  have  been  expressed,  w^hich  in  particular  touch 
upon  vital  questions  involved  in  the  development  of  these  lands, 
and  one  of  those  questions  is  the  desirability  of  more  exact 
knowledge  of  how  this  problem  can  best  be  accomplished,  both 
from  the  standpoint  of  pure  agriculture,  and  the  still  larger  ques- 
tion that  has  been  less  hinted  at — that  of  the  business  problems 
involved. 

Now,  I  want  to  discuss  those  two  phases  just  for  a  few  mo- 
ments. It  has  been  suggested  that  we  need  a  lot  of  experiment 
stations — a  lot  of  work  to  find  out  some  of  these  fundamental 
facts,  these  important  problems,  by  actual  experimental  work. 
Using  the  term  experiment  or  experimental  research  in  its 
strictest  sense,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  you  do  not  need  it  any- 
thing like  as  badly  as  you  need  the  simpler  process  of  demon- 
stration. If  the  term  "experiment"  be  limited,  as  it  should  be,  to 
original  research,  the  development  of  new  facts  on  original  scien- 
tific lines,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  we  know  enough  of  the  fun- 


The  Dawn  uf  a  New  Constructive  Era 


159 


damental  facts  surrounding  these  cut-over  lands  so  that  it  would 
not  be  very  desirable  to  w^aste  any  large  amount  of  time  or  money 
in  undertaking  to  do  a  great  volume  of  original  w^ork,  because  a 
large  part  of  that  has  been  done,  either  in  this  section  or  in  other 
sections  comparable  with  it,  which  w^ould  obviate  the  necessity  of 
that  experimental  work. 

We  had  pointed  out  to  us  by  a  representative  of  the  Bureau  of 
Soils,  for  example,  the  fact  that  the  soil  survey,  although  it  is  by 
no  means  completed,  has  covered  almost  every  type  of  land  which 
is  represented  in  the  cut-over  pine  belt ;  and  we  know  a  great  deal 
about  those  types  of  land ;  and  the  practical  question  here  to  de- 
termine is  whether  a  given  piece  of  land  comes  within  a  given 
classification  of  soil,  and  then  apply  the  facts  already  learned 
regarding  that  type  of  soil  to  that  particular  piece  of  land.  I  do 
not  believe,  for  that  reason,  in  any  extensive  soil  survey,  but  in 
the  application  of  the  knowledge  we  already  have  of  that  type, 
or  that  quality  or  class  of  soil,  which  can  be  applied  by  merely 
determining  to  what  classification  any  particular  locality  belongs. 
We  also  know  what  crops  are  particularly  suited  to  these 
different  soil  types,  and  we  have  those  crops  growing  in  the 
South — practically  all  of  them  that  are  likely  to  be  very  useful  tc^ 
us  in  the  cut-over  district  for  some  time  to  come.  Once  we  know 
the  classification  of  the  soil  we  can  readily  find,  in  the  existing 
publications  or  through  inquiry  at  the  special  offices  controlling 
this  work,  a  large  part  of  the  information  as  to  what  would  be 
best  to  plant  under  given  conditions.  I  know  very  well  that  there 
is  a  longing  in  the  human  mind  always  for  that  which  is  new  and 
novel ;  and  even  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  a  given  crop  has  not 
been  produced  to  any  considerable  extent,  if  it  has  succeeded  in 
some  remote  country  or  in  a  small  area  of  a  limited  section  of 
the  United  States,  many  times  a  person  is  inclined  to  go  after 
that  rather  than  to  take  that  which  lies  right  at  our  doors,  al- 
ready tried  and  found  to  be  absolutely  reliable.  It  is  so  common  ; 
we  see  it  so  often,  that  we  cease  to  think  of  its  value,  but  look 
at  it  way  in  the  beyond,  like  the  ultimate  end  of  this  great  fence. 
I  believe  in  utilizing  that  which  we  have  with  us  and  which 
has  already  proven  to  be  the  correct  thing,  and  let  these  other 
things  come  by  a  very  slow  process,  and  only  adopt  them  on  a 
large  scale  after  they  have  proven  their  worth. 

Now,  to  come  down  further  to  the  particular  application  of 
these   things — to   the  utilization   of  the   cut-over  pine   lands — T 


Extensive 
Soil  Survey 
Unnecessary 


160  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

most  heartily  agree  with  those  speakers  who  have  said  that  these 
lands  must  necessarily  be  utilized  for  some  time  yet  to  come, 
in  the  main,  for  the  production  of  live  stock.     I  want  also  tc 
make  a  distinction  between  some    of   the    statements,    if    made 
literally,  regarding  grazing  and  farming.     I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  extensive  use  of  cut-over  lands  for  purely  grazing  or 
ranching  purposes,  uncombined  with  farming,  is  not  the  correct 
line  for  the  utilization  of  these  lands.    I  believe  the  system  which 
Live  Stock        will  bring  them  into  use  most  rapidly  is  a  system  of  moderate- 
the  Best  Gen-  sized  farms,  where  there  will  be  a  system  of  crop  production,  and 
era      eons         especially   forage,   and   grain   production,   combined   with    stock 
Utilization         raising;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  think  we  are  right  in  the 
reduction  of  the  size  of  these  farms  to  the  small  farm  to  which 
some  speakers  have  referred ;  and  more  especially,  in  the  remote 
sections,  of  their  reduction  to  10,  15,  20  and  40  acre  farms,  where 
such   intensive  things  as  vegetable  gardens,  or  even  dairying, 
cannot  be  carried  on  successfully  until  the  country  is  more  de- 
veloped.    I  think  a  happy  medium  between  the  two  is  what  we 
should  seek. 

Now,  as  to  the  class  of  live  stock  production,  I  would  always 
regard  that  as  being  a  secondary  question.     The  first  question 
is :    What  will  the  lands  produce  and  what  can  the  farmer  make 
them  produce  after  he  has  them  under  his  control,  in  addition 
to  what  they  are  already  producing  in  their  natural  state?    The 
confusion  which  seems  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  a  great  many 
here  as  to  the  carrying  capacity  of  these  lands,  for  example,  I 
think  is  so  great  that  a  few  words  on  that  may  help  to  clarify  the 
atmosphere.     I  believe  one  man  said  1700  acres  did  not  support 
130  head;  others  have  said  that  after  putting  as  many  as  one 
Different  Sec-   animal  to  two  or  three  acres  they  did  not  graze  off  the  forage 
tions  Produce  crops  close  enough  to  suit  them ;  and  we  have  had  all  kinds  of 
Different    Re-   variations,  from  some  who  said  it  takes  5,  or  7}^,  or  10  or  20 
^"^^*  acres  to  carry  a  cow  or  cow  and  calf.    ;The  reason  for  this  con- 

fusion, in  my  opinion,  is  the  fact  that  one  man  is  speaking  of  these 
lands  under  one  condition  and  others  under  another.  The  same 
lands  will  vary  very  widely  at  different  seasons,  and  from  others 
under  different  conditions.  We  want  to  think  of  these  lands  in 
terms  of  carrying  capacity  of  cattle — they  have  a  rather  high 
carrying  capacity  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  plants  that 
grow  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  They  have  a  lesser  carrying 
capacity  in  the  early  spring  and  late  summer,  and  in  the  late  fall 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  161 


and  bulk  of  the  winter  their  carrying  capacity  is  so  reduced  that 
if  a  man  speaks  of  them  at  that  time,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
anyone  could  approximate  the  amount  of  land  it  would  take  to 
carry  an  animal.  In  fact,  I  have  a  letter  from  a  lumber  company 
in  Southwestern  Louisiana,  in  which  they  put  the  question  to 
me,  "How  much  of  this  land  will  it  take  to  carry  an  animal  the 
year  round?"  I  answered  them,  in  effect,  that  while  it  was  satis- 
factory pasturage  in  the  late  spring  and  early  summer,  in  the 
heart  of  the  winter  I  did  not  believe  their  whole  parish  would 
carry  a  small  herd  satisfactorily,  simply  because  there  is  nothing 
on  that  cut-over  pine  land  after  the  frost  has  killed  it.  There 
are  a  few  wire  grasses;  and  the  cattle  having  access  to  the  win- 
ter-growing grass  which  we  occasionally  have,  or  to  the  cane 
swamps,  which  are  very  limited  in  extent,  may  do  well.  Ti  con- 
fined strictly  to  the  cut-over  lands  where  it  is  open  and  the  yel- 
low pine  growth  has  had  full  sway,  there  is  so  little  on  that  land 
in  the  winter  timq  on  which  cattle  can  subsist  that  the  carrying 
capacity  is  reduced  almost  to  zero. 

Now,  if  this  problem  is  to  be  looked  at  from  the  grazing 
standpoint,  and  does  not  involve  forage  production  and  the  feed-  Forage  Pro- 
ing  of  those  herds  in  the  winter  time,  when  the  pasturage  is  at   duction 
its  lowest  ebb,  we  certainly  cannot  have  a  cattle  industry  which   Essential 
can  be  at  all  satisfactor)^ 

I  need  not  discuss  the  question  of  the  hog  industry,  because 
it  has  been  considered  by  everybody  in  the  South  that  the  day 
of  the  range  hog  is  past — that  he  would  certainly  have  the  poorest 
chance  to  graze  the  year  round  on  these  pine  woods.  It  has 
produced  a  type  of  hog  which  did  not  exist  before,  and  which  is 
rapidly  going  out.  Hog  raising  is  on  a  better  basis  now,  and  we 
do  not  expect  anybody  to  undertake  range  hog  raising  in  the 
pine  belt. 

But  there  is  another  class  of  animals  which  has  been  dis- 
cussed— and  I  do  not  wish  to  anticipate  what  anybody  else  will 
say  of  the  sheep  industry — but  that  should  go  hand  in  hand  with 
the  cattle  industry,  and  on  the  same  basis.  In  fact,  I  am  not 
sure  if  many  of  these  grasses  are  not  better  suited  to  sheep  than 
cattle.  The  feeding  problem  would  probably  be  less  serious  in 
winter,  and  especially  so  if  Prof.  Tracy's  advice  is  taken  as  ta 
providing  plenty  of  velvet  beans  for  winter  grazing  purposes. 

I  might  discuss  this  question  of  forages  at  considerable 
length,  but  it  has  already  been  discussed  by  representatives  here. 


162  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

dealing  especially  with  the  South,  and  I  shall  not  go  into  it  any 
further. 

Now,  as  to  the  business  questions  involved.     Those  of  you 
who  own  this  land,  have  no  doubt  spent  many  worried  days  and 
nights  trying  to  devise  a  scheme  by  which  you  could  sell  those 
Business  lands.    The  average  owner  of  cut-over  pine  lands  in  large  areas 

Problems  wants  to  sell.     That  is  the  uppermost  thought  in  his  mind.     I 

do  not  think  that  should  be  the  uppermost  thought.  I  think  the 
first  consideration,  under  existing  conditions  and  viewed  from 
the  business  standpoint,  is  that  every  owner  should  desire  to  im- 
prove those  lands  and  make  them  more  valuable  than  they  are, 
so  that  he  can  get  more  nearly  what  they  are  really  worth  for 
agricultural  purposes.  We  have  been  told  here  that  pioneering  is 
not  a  trait  of  the  modern  farmer.  I  know  this  is  the  case  with 
the  American  people,  and  especially  when  they  attempt  to  work 
as  corporations  or  to  use  large  aggregations  of  capital.  I  know 
that  the  very  small  farmer,  who  has  no  means  and  nothing  to 
work  with  but  his  own  hands,  is  handicapped  in  developing  his 
farm,  because  he  has  neither  the  means  himself  nor  possesses 
the  credit  to  obtain  them ;  and  the  question  of  what  the  land- 
owner should  do  to  fit  those  lands  for  farming,  all  the  way  be- 
tween those  two  extremes,  is  a  problem  which  has  to  be  thought 
out  from  a  business  standpoint.  There  are  certain  things,  how- 
ever, which  we  may  conceive  as  already  demonstrated  and  ac- 
cepted facts.  In  the  first  place,  I  want  to  mention  the  fact  that 
these  lands  belong  to  the  people  who  hold  title  to  them,  and 
they  have  a  perfect  right  to  use  them  for  their  own  purposes,  and 
they  have  a  perfect  right  to  exclude  people  who  have  cattle,  for 
example,  but  have  no  land  and  raise  their  live  stock  by  grazing 
them  on  the  other  man's  land ;  and  that  right  must  not  be  denied 
to  the  owners  of  these  lands  if  they  choose  to  fence  them ;  and 
there  comes  in  an  important  question  which  I  think  is  going  to 
be  at  the  basis  of  developing  these  lands  for  live  stock  purposes. 
In  many  sections  of  the  cut-over  pine  belt,  tick  eradication  has 
made  splendid  progress ;  in  others,  we  are  going  to  have  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  to  complete  that  process.  There  are  conditions 
under  which  there  is  going  to  be  great  difficulty  in  getting  that 

T--  ;   c     J-        work  supported.     I  think  every  owner  of  cut-over  land  should 

Tick  Eradica-   .     .        ,  ^^ ^       ,  ,    -^       .  ,  ,  .,  , 

Hon  Basis  of  insist  that  his  land  be  freed  from  ticks,  and  if  he  cannot  get  the 

Cattle    Indus-  cooperation  of  the  other  people  of  his  community  to  free  that 

ti'y  whole  parish  from  ticks,  he  can  at  least  reserve  to  himself  the 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


163 


right  to  fence  up  his  own  lands  and  free  that  from  ticks;  and  if 
that  was  done  in  some  parishes  in  this  state  I  want  to  say  that 
there  would  be  mighty  few  grazing  lands  left.  Tick  eradication 
is  going  to  be  the  basis  of  the  modern  cattle  industry  on  these 
cut-over  pine  lands,  whether  it  is  done,  or  is  in  process,  or  is  yet 
to  be  undertaken.  It  must  be  finished  before  any  extensive  cat- 
tle business  can  be  brought  about ;  because  we  must  introduce 
better  blood  for  those  herds,  or  entirely  new  herds,  as  one  of 
our  speakers  explained  yesterday ;  and  I  maintain  that  there  are 
plenty  of  men  in  this  cut-over  belt  who  are  able  to  establish 
those  pure  bred  herds ;  we  know  that,  but  unfortunately,  like 
the  calculation  on  the  cost  of  fencing  an  acre,  the  average  man 
is  not  able  to  do  that,  and  you  must  keep  within  practical  bounds 
and  not  go  beyond  your  financial  ability  in  trying  to  do  some- 
thing you  are  not  financially  able  to  do,  and  of  which  you  would 
not  make  a  success.  The  average  herd  must  be  improved  by 
breeding,  in  order  to  bring  the  cattle  up  to  a  better  standard. 
We  must  not  subject  them  to  the  nuisance  of  these  ticks,  which 
will  ruin  many  of  them  and  result  in  losses  we  can  ill  afford  tO' 
sustain. 

The  fencing  of  these  lands,  in  my  opinion,  is  one  of  the  es- 
sentials for  their  best  development.  The  next  problem  and  the 
biggest  one  of  them  all,  is  the  removal  of  the  stumps  from  that 
portion  of  the  soil  to  be  cultivated  for  the  production  of  the 
winter  feeds ;  at  least,  it  certainly  is  desirable  that  this  process 
be  pushed  forward  until  all  the  farm  shall  ultimately  be  freed 
from  stumps.  These  stumps  are  such  a  serious  obstruction  to 
modern  farming,  such  a  detriment  to  every  process  we  under- 
take, that  their  total  elimination  from  cultivated  areas  must  be 
a  prime  consideration. 

Now,  I  do  not  think  we  are  all  agreed  on  how  this  stump 
removal  shall  proceed.  There  have  been  a  great  many  processes 
tried;  a  great  deal  of  data  has  been  accumulated,  and  especially 
by  the  people  operating  these  demonstration  or  experiment  farms 
on  properties  of  the  different  companies;  but  that  information 
has  not  been  consolidated  and  reduced  to  a  system  so  that  we 
can  draw  a  definite  conclusion ;  and,  as  someone  has  hinted,  I 
doubt  if  we  will  ever  get  much  of  that  information.  We  do  know, 
however,  that  the  yellow  pine  stump  is  one  of  the  hardest  propo- 
sitions that  any  stump  puller  has  ever  tackled.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  line  of  stumps  near  so  difficult.    We  do  know  that  at 


Fencing  and 
Stump  Re- 
moval 


Best  Land- 
Clearing 
Methods    Still 
Uncertain 


164 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


least  in  a  few  instances  every  success  has  attended  the  burning 
of  these  stumps  by  that  simple  process  of  digging  a  post  hole, 
boring  an  augur  hole  down  through  the  stump  and  letting  it 
dry  out,  and  then  building  a  fire  in  that  post  hole  so  that  this 
augur  hole  will  act  as  a  flue  and  will  contain  so  much  rosin  that 
it  will  readily  burn  out  in  most  cases. 

Now,  the  men  who  demonstrated  that  the  average  of  these 
lands  could  be  cleared  at  a  price  not  to  exceed  $10  per  acre,  by 
contract,  has  attracted  a  wonderful  lot  of  notice  which  is  of  value 
from  a  business  standpoint  in  the  handling  of  this  problem.  If  I 
were  a  farm  operator,  that  information  would  be  very  valuable 
to  me ;  but  we  have  not  yet  gotten  to  the  point  where  we  can 
get  hold  of  this  information  at  a  given  time.  We  are  given  sorae 
of  it  merely  in  fragments. 

Now  I  come  to  another  point,  which  I  hesitate  to  broach  and 
which  I  do  on  my  personal  responsibility  rather  than  as  an  of- 
ficial of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  some  form  of  organization  be  perfected  here 
Land  Owners  by  which  all  the  information  thus  developed  can  be  consolidated, 
and  that  definite  arrangements  be  made  by  which  additional  in- 
formation will  be  gotten  and  made  available  for  all  parties  in- 
terested in  this  great  problem.  Now,  if  we  look  to  see  what  has 
been  done,  we  find  the  Federal  Government  and  the  several 
States  are  only  touching  this  problem  very  lightly.  Some  of 
them  have  several  experiment  stations  and  demonstration  farms 
and  have  developed  certain  information  which  can  be  had  for 
those  particular  localities.  There  are  probably  several  hundred 
lumber  companies  which  maintain  demonstration  farms  and  ex- 
periment stations,  or  whatever  you  choose  to  call  them.  I  be- 
lieve most  of  them  are  small  demonstration  farms  where  they 
■are  getting  a  lot  of  valuable  information ;  but  they  put  that  in- 
formation in  their  files  in  their  offices  and  use  it  for  their  own 
purposes,  and  no  one  else  profits  by  it;  and  more  especially  do 
we  not  get  that  information  which  is  of  an  adverse  nature,  and 
which  sometimes  is  worth  more  to  us  than  the  positive  facts  de- 
veloped. When  you  get  a  warning  what  not  to  do,  you  are  just 
as  well  off  as  when  you  get  information  as  to  what  you  should 
do;  because  in  the  one  case  you  positively  have  a  loss,  and  in 
the  other  you  merely  have  an  opportunity  to  make  a  gain.  If 
the  interests  of  these  cut-over  pine  land  owners  could  be  con- 
solidated in  such  manner  that  all  the  information,  both  pro  and 


Should  Ex 
change  Infor 
mation 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


165 


con,  developed  on  all  these  demonstration  farms  could  be  con- 
solidated and  then  be  distributed  to  everybody  concerned,  it 
would  make  a  fine  lot  of  information  well  developed ;  and  this  is 
one  of  the  things  I  would  suggest  as  being  desirable.  Now,  it 
is  probable  that  if  this  series  of  farms  were  looked  over,  we 
would  find  that  they  were  not  ideally  located  so  as  to  cover  all 
types  of  the  cut-over  district.  We  had  reference  yesterday  to  the 
Orangeburg  Sand  and  others  of  the  Greenville  clay  type,  all  of 
which  represent  more  or  less  distinct  types  of  country.  Are 
these  farms  so  located  that  we  could  get  data  from  all  classes  of 
them,  in  case  they  were  all  consolidated,  and  the  data  were  pub- 
lished in  some  bulletin  or  other  consolidated  form?  In  my 
opinion,  we  would  have  to  go  a  little  further  and  have  a  central 
clearing  house,  through  which  it  would  be  more  certain  that  all 
types  would  be  represented.  Some  system  might  be  arranged 
for  buying  some  of  the  present  farms  which  adequately  repre- 
sent the  work  on  different  types  of  land. 

I  would  rather  call  these  demonstration  farms  than  experi- 
ment stations.  I  believe  they  ought  to  be  under  a  consolidated 
management.  I  believe  their  management  should  have  the  best 
agricultural  talent  that  can  be  had.  I  know  some  farmers  trying 
to  demonstrate  facts  regarding  cut-over  pine  lands  today,  where 
their  work  has  been  to  a  large  extent  vitiated,  due  to  the  fact 
that  their  failure  has  been  brought  about  by  men  from  other  sec- 
tions, who  may  have  been  an  eminent  success,  but  who  are  not  agement 
competent,  with  all  due  respect  to  their  success  otherwise,  to 
handle  the  question  of  agriculture  in  this  section  with  which  they 
are  probably  not  familiar.  The  new  system  of  demonstration 
farms  of  this  kind  should  be  under  the  control  of  men  who  know 
agriculture  primarily. 

Now,  I  want  to  go  one  step  further  and  suggest  a  practical 
means  by  which  this  can  be  done,  and  I  will  illustrate  it  by  say- 
ing that  a  few  years  ago,  when  the  Hawaiian  Islands  were  at- 
tempting to  develop  the  sugar  business  along  modern  lines,  they 
sought  the  world  over  for  some  information.  The  Louisiana 
State  University  at  that  time  had  about  the  only  sugar  school 
and  experiment  station  that  was  doing  very  much,  and  I  violate 
no  confidence  when  I  say  that  Louisiana  did  not  look  with  a 
great  deal  of  favor  on  seeing  the  Hawaiian  Islands  go  into  the 
sugar  field,  and  they  didn't  go  out  of  their  way  to  give  the 
Hawaiian  planters  any  particular  information.     They  soon  re- 


Suggests    One 
General  Man- 


166 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Early  Diffi- 
culties of  Ha- 
waiian  Sugar 
Industry 
Solved  by  Co- 
operative 
Association 


One  Cent  an 
Acre  Means 
$750,000 


solved  that  if  they  couldn't  get  any  information  regarding-  their 
own  industry  in  their  own  Islands,  they  must  get  it  at  their 
own  expense  and  in  their  own  way ;  and  after  conferring  and 
consulting  for  quite  a  while,  they  decided  they  would  establish 
it  on  a  thoroughly  business  principle,  which  would  hold  good 
as  long  as  they  chose  to  perpetuate  it,  and  which  would  give 
certairi  returns ;  and  the  system  agreed  upon  was  that  every 
manufacturer  of  sugar  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  who  chose  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Hawaiian  Sugar  Planters'  Association, 
should  ship  his  sugar  or  report  his  sugar  through  the  Associa- 
tion, in  Honolulu ;  and  that  he  should  pay  into  the  treasury  of 
this  Association  the  sum  of  25  cents  on  every  ton  of  sugar  which 
he  turned  out  from  his  factory.  This  sum  of  money  was  con- 
solidated and  used  by  their  agricultural  board  for  the  establish- 
ment, maintenance  and  operation  of  the  Experiment  Station, 
•which  was  to  send  out  information  regarding  the  sugar  industry 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  This  fund,  in  a  few  years,  had  reached 
fifty  and  then  ninety  thousand  dollars,  and  now  it  is  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  They  have  one  of  the  best  sugar  experiment 
stations  in  the  world  and  they  are  doing  splendid  work.  In 
later  years  they  have  correlated  it,  more  or  less,  with  the  Gov- 
ernment work,  and  thus,  to  some  extent,  the  information  which 
they  are  developing  there  is  available  to  other  people ;  but,  in 
the  main,  the  facts  developed  have  gone,  in  published  form,  and 
in  letters,  circulars  and  otherwise  to  the  members  of  this  Asso- 
ciation ;  and  to  this  day,  whenever  they  have  anything  which 
they  think  might  be  used  by  the  other  fellow  to  their  disadvan- 
tage, they  give  it  only  to  their  members. 

Now,  if  these  gentlemen  who  own  these  lands,  desire  to 
institute  a  system  which  will  work  for  the  common  good  of  the 
cut-over  pine  lands,  and  to  use  this  same  idea — which  is  entirely 
practicable — the  raising  of  the  necessary  funds  by  a  very  small 
assessment  against  the  lands,  they  can  do  it.  You  can  soon  see 
what  1  cent  an  acre  would  mean  on  this  75  million  acres — $750,- 
000.  One-tenth  of  a  cent  an  acre  would  give  you  $75,000,  if  all 
the  land  were  included.  1  don't  know  howmuch  you  might  want 
to  raise,  but  if  you  could  raise  any  such  sums  as  that,  some  work 
could  be  developed  which  would  give  you  much  of  the  informa- 
tion you  seek,  and  which  is  so  badly  needed ;  at  least,  the  con- 
solidation of  existing  facts  and  their  application  to  your  par- 
ticular problems. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  167 

Before  closing,  I  will  say,  in  a  brief  way,  that  I  have  been 
watching  these  cut-over  lands  very  closely  during  the  past  three 
years,  and  in  my  opinion  they  are  a  splendid  agricultural  re- 
source, with  wonderful  possibilities.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
they  will  compare  with  our  richer  lands  in  Louisiana  or  Mis- 
sissippi, but  I  do  say  they  are  valuable  agricultural  lands  that 
are  quite  capable  of  sustaining  a  large  population  and  capable  Wonderful 
of  producing  an  immense  amount  of  wealth  by  a  production  Possibilities 
which  will  compare  very  favorably  with  the  average  lands  of  _  ,  " 
the  South ;  and  I  trust  that  the  examples  already  set  by  many 
concerns  and  individuals  in  demonstrating  their  possibilities,  and 
bringing  them  into  practical  use,  especially  at  this  stage  of  the 
great  crisis,  will  not  be  delayed  longer  than  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, and  that  you  will  bend  your  efforts  towards  making  them 
contribute  their  part  towards  the  support,  not  only  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  times  of  peace,  but  more  particularly  at  this  eminent 
crisis.     I  thank  you.     (Applause.) 

S.  F.  Morse :  I  just  want  to  drive  home  a  very  important 
point  made  by  Dr.  Nesom,  by  a  concrete  instance.  The  point  I 
mean  was,  that  there  was,  to  a  large  degree,  enough  practical 
experience  and  demonstration  to  enable  us  to  determine  what  can 
be  done  and  to  formulate  a  plan  for  the  development  of  these 
lands. 

The  experience  which  I  wish  to  state  is  this :  About  three 
vears  ago,  in  the  State  of  Arizona,  when  they  started  the  agri- 
cultural extension  work,  we  found  ourselves  covering  a  large 
area  of  land  about  which  we  knew  nothing.  At  the  outset,  as  I 
just  stated,  we  found  we  had  no  experimental  data  for  the  de- 
velopment of  these  large  areas  of  land.  What  were  we  to  do? 
These  lands  had  many  settlers  on  them  and  they  were  crying  out 
for  information.  We  didn't  bother  with  the  experiment  sta- 
tion ;  we  cut  loose  and  got  busy  and  found  out  what  they  were 
doing  in  other  states  and  in  other  parts  of  the  country  where 
conditions  were  similar.  We  investigated  the  live  stock  business 
and  got  different  experiences,  and  then  we  worked  with  the 
farmers  and  gave  them  this  experience.  The  result  is  that  to- 
day, where  we  were  previously  shipping  in  sack  lots,  we  are  now 
shipping  in  carload  lots ;  and  that  has  only  been  within  a  period 
of  three  years. 

That  was  done,  as  Dr.  Nesom  has  suggested,  by  taking  the 
different  conditions  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  of  the  dif- 


168 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


The  Distinc- 
tion Between 
Experimenta- 
tion and 
Demonstra- 
tion 


ferent  states  and  the  Federal  Government,  and  giving-  that  in- 
formation to  the  farmer  in  practical  form.  The  point  was: 
That  information  had  to  be  passed  through  a  central  source,  and 
translated  into  terms  of  practical  application  to  the  local  con- 
ditions, and  that  is  what  you  people  have  today.  I  simply  want 
to  give  you  confidence  in  this  proposition. 

Dr.  C.  V.  Piper:  There  is  a  very  important  distinction  be- 
tween experimentation  and  demonstration.  You  cannot  demon- 
strate a  thing  until  you  know  it.  Do  you  get  that?  Now,  I 
think  my  friend's  ideas  are  not  very  far  off,  but  I  don't  like  his 
confusing  two  words,  experimentation  and  demonstration.  If  I 
understood  the  speakers  right  yesterday,  they  think  that  with 
the  information  we  already  possess  live  stock  farming  on  an  ex- 
tensive scale  on  these  cut-over  lands  can  be  made  successful. 
They  had  in  mind  the  establishment,  under  practical  conditions 
and  with  a  minimum  expense,  a  place  where  all  these  pieces  of 
knowledge  could  be  put  together  and  then  cited.  I  submit  to 
you  that  this  is  an  experiement  station,  not  a  place  of  demonstra- 
tion. If  we  had  the  knowledge  we  could  go  ahead  and  do  it.  I 
call  that  demonstration.  Then  there  would  be  no  need  of  the 
meeting  here  today.  The  experiment  station  that  I  had  in  mind 
and  that  Dr.  Nesom  had  in  mind  are  pretty  nearly  one  and  the 
same  thing;  but  until  we  have  the  knowledge,  you  cannot  call  it 
a  demonstration.  It  is  a  very  important  distinction ;  and  I 
think  we  will  get  our  minds  confused  if  we  confuse  experimen- 
tation and  demonstration. 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era  169 

How  Louisiana  Is  Solving  fhe 
Reforestation  Problem 

By  M.  L.  Alexander 

Commissioner  Department  of  Conservation, 
State  of  Louisiana 

How  Louisiana  is  solving  the  reforestation  problem  by  the 
actual  growing  of  trees  was  told  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference 
of  the  South  by  Hon.  'M.  L.  Alexander,  Commissioner,  Depart- 
ment of  Conservation,  State  of  Louisiana. 

"On  the  State  Forest  Reserve  at  Urania,  La.,  a  forest  is 
being  made  again,"  said  Mr.  Alexander.  "Not  a  wild  tangle- 
wood  of  shrubs  and  seedlings,  but  of  real  trees.  Trees  that  will 
make  lumber  of  a  superior  grade  are  growing  on  fields  that  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  period  grew  cotton  for  blockade  running  to 
England.  Here  we  have  trees  of  every  age  that  were  not  of  the 
virgin  forests,  but  sprang  from  them,  and  in  which  the  hand  of 
man  has  but  assisted  nature." 

The  speaker  declared  that  one  of  the  first  results  of  the  ex- 
periments was  to  discover  that,  not  forest  fires,  as  had  at  first 
been  supposed,  but  the  razorback  hog,  was  responsible  for  the 
fact  that  the  prized  long-leaf  pine  had  for  many  years  failed  to 
reforest  itself. 

"Mr.  Hardtner's  investigations,"  he  continued,  "proved  that 
the  kernel  of  the  long-leaf  seed  is  oily,  rich  in  nutritious  matter, 
and  palatable  to  the  hog.  When  the  seedlings  are  one  year  old 
the  root  and  short  stem  are  spongy,  sweet  and  tender,  and  it  is 
amazing  how  many  seeds,  seedlings  and  saplings  a  razorback 
can  finish  up  in  a  half  a  day's  work,  one  hog  averaging  five  seed- 
lings a  minute.  The  seed  of  the  short-leaf  and  loblolly  are  very 
small,  and  neither  these  nor  the  seedlings  are  relished  by  the 
hogs. 

"On  the  preserve  we  now  have  2,500  acres  inclosed  with  a 
hog-proof  wire  fence,  2,500  acres  under  an  ordinary  fence  and 
2,500  unfenced.  In  the  hog-proofed  area  the  long-leaf  pine  seed- 
lings are  numerous,  in  the  regularly  fenced  area  there  are  a  very 


Razor-Back 
Hog  a  Menace 


170 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Longleaf 
Seedlings 
Survive  Fire 


Profits  in  Re- 
forestation 


few,  and  in  the  unfenced  tract  there  is  not  one — a  complete  de- 
struction of  the  seed  crop. 

"Experiments  have  been  made  of  burning  over  tracts  by 
setting-  fire  to  the  sedge  grass  that  grows  very  heavily  on  the 
preserve.  It  makes  a  very  hot  fire,  but  from  actual  count  from 
50  tO'  90  per  cent  of  the  long-leaf  seedlings  survived  the  con- 
flagration, and  in  a  few  days  the  buds  put  forth  new  green 
straw,  and  they  are  healthy  and  vigorous  today.  The  fire  would 
burn  off  the  seedlings'  straw  close  to  the  ground,  but  the  bud  is 
evidently  green  enough  to  survive  the  scorching,  and  a  two  or 
three-year-old  seedling  will  survive  the  fire  much  better  than  the 
year-old  ones. 

"Mr.  Hardtner  and  I  are  convinced  that  reforestation  of 
long-leaf  is  impossible  where  the  hog  roams  at  large  rooting  up 
the  seedlings ;  we  are  convinced  that  fire  does  not  do  as  much 
damage  as  was  thought,  but  notwithstanding  all  this  we  are  op- 
posed to  fire  at  any  timie  and  do  not  advocate  its  use.  If  forest 
areas  are  to  be  burned  over  to  remove  dried  grasses,  let  it  be 
done  in  the  proper  season — the  winter  following  a  rain  that  has 
soaked  the  ground.    Very  little  damage  will  be  done  then. 

"We  have  long  advocated  the  leaving  of  one  or  more  seed 
trees  to  an  acre  when  the  lumberman  fells  the  timber  for  his 
sawmills.  This  is  truly  a  method  of  conservation,  and  if  ad- 
hered to  by  lumbermen  will  soon  have  the  cut-over  area  re- 
forested with  seedlings.  If  these  seedlings  are  properly  pro- 
tected and  the  young  trees  thinned  as  they  grow,  the  forest  that 
will  take  the  place  of  the  original  will  yield  even  richer  returns 
in  from  fifty  to  sixty  years. 

"If  this  method  of  reforestation  is  carried  out,  in  forty  years 
one  may  expect  to  have  a  good  stand  of  timber  on  forest  lands, 
hardly  ready  for  the  millman's  saw,  but  good  thriving  trees 
ready  for  lumbering  during  the  next  ten  to  twenty  years  thereafter. 

"At  Urania  it  is  being  demonstrated  that  it  is  just  as  easy 
to  grow  50,000  feet  of  timber  to  the  acre  in  sixty  years  by  as- 
sisting nature  as  it  is  for  unaided  nature  to  produce  5,000  feet 
in  the  same  period.  And  thinning  does  not  mean  endless  ex- 
pense for  the  tree  farmer,  for  we  havei  demonstrated  on  the  State 
Forest  Reserve,  using  a  21-acre  plot  of  short-leaf  and  loblolly, 
that  proper  thinning  gave  180  cords  of  wood,  555  tram  ties,  and 
200  posts  worth  $258.75  at  a  laboring  cost  of  $205.00,  a  profit  of 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  17J 

$53.75,  or  $2.55  an  acre.     This  sort  of  profit  is  sufficient  to  pay 
all  taxes  and  incidental  expenses. 

"Accurate  measurement  has  been  taken  of  the  trees  in  the 
different  lots,  photographs  taken,  and  in  some  cases  every  tree  num- 
bered and  recorded  so  that  comparative  figures  will  give  abso- 
^olute  proof  of  the  growth  from  season  to  season.  Our  method 
is  to  let  nature  take  its  course  in  the  matter  of  seeding  for  re- 
forestation. This  is  very  satisfactory  and  there  is  no  expense  of 
tree  planting  by  hand  to  deduct  from  the  profits  when  the  lum- 
ber is  sold.  With  long-leaf  pine  seed  crops  are  infrequent  and 
several  years  elapse  between  the  crops.  This  is  not  so  with 
short-leaf  and  loblolly ;  therefore,  reforestation  on  denuded  areas 
with  these  species  is  not  difficult  if  seed  trees  have  been  left 
standing,  as  a  crop  can  be  counted  on  almost  every  season.  At 
Urania  our  records  show  that  there  was  no  crop  of  long-leaf 
mast  in  1912,  a  hundred  per  cent  crop  in  1913,  a  5  per  cent  crop 
in  1914-15,  and  a  50  per  cent  crop  in  1916.  In  virgin  forests  of 
long-leaf,  the  seed  seasons  are  sometimes  five  or  ten  years  apart, 
but  vigorous  young  pines  in  denuded  areas  bear  seed  more  fre- 
quently and  abundantly. 

"A  record  made  on  an  acre  in  one  of  the  experimental  plots 
shows  251  trees  ranging  three  inches  and  under  to  22  inches  D. 
B,  H.  will  yield  at  the  present  time  13,544  feet.    By  adding  four 
inches  to  the  growth  in  20  years  it  will  yield  42,388  feet.    Stump-   Growing  a 
age  now  sells  at  $5  per  thousand  feet,  but  twenty  years  from   Forest  at  $2  a 
now  we  will  be  safe  in  presuming  that   it  will  sell  for  $10  a    Thousand 
thousand,  or  $423.88.     If  converted  into  lumber  and  delivered  to      ^^ 
Northern  markets  it  will  be  worth  at  least  $1,200.     Mr.  Hardt- 
ner's  recapitulation  is  that  the  cost  of  growing  timber  will  be 
around  $2  a  thousand  feet. 

"Thus  have  we  met  the  reforestation  problem  in  Louisiana 
and  our  theories  have  been  sound,  as  our  results  indicate.  We 
can  show  you  that  timber  can  be  grown  on  timber  land  at  a 
profit.  We  can  demonstrate  that  lumber  that  has  long  been 
supposed  not  to  perpetuate  itself  does  so  if  enemies  are  removed. 
We  have  a  healthy  regard  for  the  dread  forest  fire,  but  we  have 
also  learned  that  it  is  not  so  bad  as  we  have  been  thinking  it. 

"We  also- believe  that  the  owner  of  cut-over  land  will  find  it 
to  his  advantage  to  go  timber  farming,  and  that  all  cut-over  land 
does  not  necessarily  have  to  be  plowed  under  for  crops  until 


172 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


there  is  need  for  this  land,  and  that  the  interim  can  be  profitably 
spent  in  working  out  reforestation." 

Mr.  Alexander  declared  that  before  reforestation  can  be  suc- 
cessfully carried  out,  existing  methods  of  taxation  on  timber 
lands  would  have  to  be  radically  reformed. 


Distillation 
Plants  Make 
Stumping 
Profitable 


The  Question 
of  Marketing 


Some  Problems  6>/ Colonizing 
Cut-Over  Lands 

By  H.  A.  Weare 

of  Mobile,  Ala. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  take  any  active  part  in  this  pro- 
gram here,  but  I  would  like  to  make  a  few  remarks  covering  an 
'experience  of  sixteen  years  in  which  I  have  been  handling  and 
studying  cut-over  lands  in  the  Gulf  Coast  territory.  My  specialty 
is  handling  timber  lands,  and  I  believe  it  is  always  necessary  to 
handle  cut-over  lands  as  well.  What  really  brought  me  to  my 
feet  is  the  remark  Mr.  Alexander  just  made  in  reference  to  the 
distillation  plants. 

In  making  a  study  of  these  cut-over  lands  and  how  to  handle 
them,  I  have  concluded  that  these  distillation  plants  should 
really  be  put  in  with  every  proposition.  What  does  it  mean? 
It  means  that  the  man  clearing  up  his  own  land  is  really  helped, 
as  he  gets  a  good  market  for  his  stumps. 

Another  question  not  dwelt  upon  very  much  is  the  question 
of  marketing  your  products.  In  looking  around  and  observing 
the  different  farmers  in  the  Gulf  Coast  territory  I  have  had  every 
farmer  tell  me,  "We  have  no  difficulty  in  producing  crops,  but 
we  do  have  a  hard  time  in  finding  a  sale  for  them."  That  is 
something  that  must  be  taken  up  and  considered  in  connection 
with  settling  your  land.  You  can  bring  people  down  here  from 
the  North  and  produce  the  stuff,  but  you  must  give  them  an 
outlet  to  sell  it.  When  I  first  came  South  and  started  buying 
some  of  these  cut-over  lands,  my  friends  told  me  I  was  very 
foolish.  That  was  sixteen  years  ago.  They  thought  it  was  abso- 
lutely no  good.     To  illustrate  to  you  what  some  men  thought 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  173 

of  it,  I  know  one  man  who  sold  50,000  acres  and  stated  to  me 
later,  "I  slipped  in  10,000  acres  of  cut-over  land  at  the  same 
price  and  they  never  noticed  it." 

In  determining  why  I  thought  these  lands  would  have  a 
value,  in  going  around  I  would  find  that  one  farmer  was  raising 
velvet  beans  and  other  fine  crops;  I  would  find  another  man 
who  had  cow  peas ;  another  man  produced  a  big  crop  of  Irish 
potatoes ;  and  in  that  way  I  found,  scattered  all  around,  where 
they  were  producing  practically  all  the  different  things  we  have 
heard  mentioned  here  today.  I  have  seen  that  for  years.  It  has 
all  been  demonstrated.  I  really  believe  that  is  the  way  you  will 
get  your  land  settled.  It  is  very  difficult  to  go  to  Iowa  and 
bring  those  good  farmers  down  here  and  settle  them  in  the 
wilderness.  You  will  find  that  most  localities  in  this  country 
require  three  sets  of  people,  before  the  good  substantial  farmer 
arrives.  Another  thing  is  that  we  are  all  getting  good  roads  and 
automobiles,  and  though  you  are  eight  or  ten  miles  out  in  the 
country  you  can  still  keep  in  touch  with  things. 

In  selling  these  large  tracts  I  have  noticed  one  great  diffi- 
culty has  been  that  so  many  of  the  colonizers  do  not  care  any- 
thing about  what  becomes  of  the  men  after  they  sell  them  a 
tract.  That  is  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties.  I  have  sold  a  ■Proper  Care 
good  many  large  tracts,  and  I  have  observed  that  in  60  or  70  '^^  ^  ^®  " 
per  cent  of  the  cases  it  is  just  that  way.  They  don't  seem  to 
care  where  the  man  lands  after  he  gets  there.  That  is  all  wrong. 
You  must  look  after  the  man  and  see  that  he  is  taken  care  of. 


174 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


The  South's 
Advantages 
for  Dairying 


Some  Essen- 
tials to  Suc- 
cessful Dairy- 
ing 


The  Dairy  Industry  of  the 

South 

By  C.  W.  Radway 

Dairy    Specialist,    Bureau    of   Animal   Industry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

There  are  several  reasons  why  the  dairy  industry,  should  be 
prosperous  in  the  South.  The  South  is  well  adapted,  I  believe, 
to  successful  dairying.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this  is  the  climate. 
The  barns  or  buildings  that  are  needed  are  less  expensive  than 
those  needed  in  the  North ;  and  the  climate  is  such  that  we  can 
depend  upon  pasture  for  eight  months  out  of  the  year.  I  might 
state  there  that  some  people  are  trying  to  depend  upon  twelve 
months  of  the  year,  and  those  people  are  the  ones  making  a  failure. 

We  have  been  doing"  some  record  work  and  testing  and 
weighing  milk  all  over  the  state,  and  for  the  past  four  months 
we  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  piney  woods  cows  producing 
much  butter  fat.  Another  thing  is  that  forage  crops  can  be  very 
easily  raised  here  in  the  South.  But,  however,  with  all  these 
advantages,  there  are  some  essentials  to  the  dairy  business  that 
must  not  be  overlooked.  One  of  these  essentials  for  success  is 
efBcient  dairy  cows.  Second,  is  sufficient  home  grown  feed ;  and 
the  man  that  comes  down  here  with  the  intention  of  going  into 
the  dairy  business  must  see  to  it  that  he  is  locating  in  a  place 
where  he  can  grow  forage  for  his  cattle.  It  will  not  do  to  start 
a  dairy  farm  where  you  can  grow  nothing  but  strawberries  or 
rice.  If  you  intend  to  start  the  dairy  business  on  such  land  you 
are  going  to  fail.  The  third  essential,  to  go  with  these  other 
tw^o — the  cow  and  the  feed — is  the  man.  A  man  has  to  under- 
stand how  to  take  care  of  a  cow,  how  to  feed  that  cow,  and  how 
to  make  a  good  product,  whether  he  is  selling  whole  milk,  cream 
or  making  butter;  and  in  connection  with  this  milk  problem,  or 
with  the  dairy  products,  one  of  the  main  things  is  quality.  Those 
people  in  Louisiana  making  good  butter  have  no  trouble  at  all 
in  marketing  it.  Those  people  making  a  poor  product  find  that 
product  is  not  wanted.  We  have  several  instances  here  in 
Louisiana — one  man  at  New  Iberia  cannot  supply  the  demand. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  175 


He  could  sell  three  times  as  much  butter  as  he  is  making  at  the 
present  time.  The  Ruston  Creamery,  at  Ruston,  Louisiana,  can- 
not fill  half  the  orders  they  have  at  the  present  time,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  New  Iberia  Creamery. 

There  are  several  advantages  to  be  derived  from  dairying. 
The  first  advantage,  which  should  appeal  very  strongly  to  every 
Southern  farmer,  is  that  the  dairy,  well  conducted,  improves  the 
soil.  A  dairyman  in  North  Louisiana,  on  cut-over  lands,  who 
started  in  about  six  years  ago  on  land  that  was  producing  less 
than  one-third  a  bale  of  cotton  to  the  acre.  He  saved  the  ferti- 
lizer from  that  dairy  and  put  it  back  on  the  land,  and  today  he 
is  producing  as  much  cotton  on  half  the  ground  he  did  six  years 
ago.  In  other  words,  in  six  years'  time,  with  the  intelligent  use 
of  the  dairy  and  his  by-products,  he  has  doubled  the  productive 
capacity  of  that  farm.  Another  thing  is  that  it  furnishes  a  mar- 
ket for  crops,  as  some  of  the  crops  that  cannot  be  marketed  be- 
cause of  the  small  quantity  and  the  distance  to  market.  If  a 
man  has  only  a  few  tons  of  pea  vine  hay  or  soy  bean  hay,  and 
cannot  get  it  to  the  market,  the  best  market  is  the  dairy  cow. 
Again,  he  may  have  some  forage  crops  that  are  not  in  market- 
able condition,  some  that  are  poor  in  quality.  That  can  be  used 
for  feeding  and  put  right  back  on  the  soil.  One  instance  of  this : 
At  New  Iberia  a  man  used  cane  tops  for  silage — not  that  I  would 
advocate  cane  tops  for  silage,  but  it  helps  out  in  his  feeding,  and 
is  one  of  the  by-products  of  the  cane. 

A  man  that  makes  a  good  quality  of  product,  butter  or  cream 
or  whole  milk,  is  sure  of  a  market ;  but  the  quality  must  be  good. 
I  might  state  at  this  time  that  in  any  whole  milk  industry,  a 
great  improvement  can  be  made  by  more  winter  dairying.  In 
that  way  a  more  uniform  supply  can  be  furnished  in  the  cities. 
Last  November  and  December  some  of  the  places  along  the 
Illinois  Central  were- shipping  only  about  half  what  they  are  at 
the  present  time,  which,  you  see,  is  not  the  best  way  of  doing. 

Some  of  the  farmers  claim  they  are  not  making  money  in 
the  dairy  business.  There  are  some  reasons  for  that.  First,  the 
cost  of  production  is  too  high ;  and  there  are  many  cows  in  this 
state  that  are  not  paying  for  the  feed  they  eat.  The  second 
reason  is  the  lack  of  system  in  feeding.  If  you  investigate  some 
of  the  good  farms,  you  will  find  that  every  cow  in  that  dairy  is 
getting  the  same  amount  of  feed,  regardless  of  the  amount  of 
milk  she  produces.     Third,  you  will  find  there  is  no  economy 


The  Cow  as  a 
Soil  Improver 


Dairy  Prod- 
ucts Com- 
mand Ready 
Market 


Reasons  for 
Dairying  Fail- 
ures 


176 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era 


Results  from 
Good  and 
Poor  Cows 


An  Example 
of   Successful 
Dairy    Opera- 
tion 


in  the  labor.  Much  of  the  work  may  be  saved ;  much  of  the  work 
may  be  done  to  better  advantage  by  doing  things  a  little  dif- 
ferent, and  possibly  locating  a  little  differently.  Fourth,  is  poor 
equipment.  Many  of  you  are  not  sufficiently  equipped  to  handle 
the  milk  and  get.it  to  market  in  good  condition.  Fifth,  is  the 
cattle  tick,  which  will  be  spoken  of  later;  and  we  trust  that  the 
cattle  tick  will  be  eradicated  in  a  very  short  time.  Also,  one  of 
the  most  vital  things  is  the  lack  of  home  grown  feed.  Among  the 
farmers  we  have  visited  within  the  past  three  or  four  months, 
those  people  having  no  home  grown  feed  were  contemplating 
selling  their  dairies  because  they  could  not  afford  to  buy  feed 
from  the  market. 

Now,  these  apparent  disadvantages  are  being  overcome. 
One  of  the  best  ways  of  farming  here  is  by  getting  better  cows. 
It  is  essential  that  we  have  this.  We  have  a  farmer  at  New 
Iberia  who  just  bought  a  few  cows.  One  of  them  had  a  year's 
record  of  600  pounds  of  butter  fat.  When  you  compare  that  with 
a  cow  producing  100  to  150  pounds,  you  may  see  the  difference. 
Another  way  is  by  weeding  out  the  poor  cows  by  herd  record 
work.  One  of  the  dairies  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  had 
35  cows.  It  started  the  record  work  there  a  little  over  a  year 
ago,  and  three  or  four  months  ago  we  began  selling  cows  that 
were  proving  they  were  not  paying  any  profit.  After  eight  cows 
were  sold,  and  by  better  feeding  of  the  remainder,  we  sold  as 
much  milk  as  we  had  from  the  original  35.  By  this  record  work 
better  methods  are  being  introduced;  better  care  is  being  taken 
of  the  milk;  better  feeding  is  resulting;  better  care  of  the  cows; 
and  it  gives  the  farmers  a  better  chance  to  plant  for  home 
grown  feed.  This  record  work  along  the  dairy  line,  I  believe,  is 
the  most  important  part  of  the  work  that  we  do.  I  might  say 
that  the  Live  Stock  Extension  Service  is  supervising  the  record 
work  of  some  of  the  dairies  in  this  state,  and  some  interesting 
results  are  found. 

Two  years  ago  a  visit  was  made  to  a  dairyman.  After  ex- 
plaining the  advantages  of  keeping  records  of  each  individual 
cow  he  decided  to  keep  a  complete  record  of  his  herd.  Each 
cow's  milk  was  weighed  each  night  and  morning  and  a  butter- 
fat  test  was  made  once  a  month.  Each  cow  was  charged  with 
the  feed  she  had  eaten.  At  the  end  of  the  year  four  cows  were 
sold  that  were  making  no  profit  at  all.  The  second  year  cane  tops 
were  used  with  corn  for  silage.     Four  cows  were  added  to  the 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


111 


dairy  to  make  50  (the  original  number).  Last  year,  by  the  use 
of  cane  tops  and  home  grown  feeds,  $300  was  saved  on  feed  and 
more  butter  fat  was  produced  than  the  year  before  from  the  same 
number  of  cows.  When  the  record  began  at  that  dairy  the  aver- 
age butter  fat  production  per  cow  per  year  was  about  170  lbs. 
At  present  the  average  is  about  240  lbs.,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
year  all  cows  not  making  250  lbs.  of  butter  fat  will  be  sold.  By 
systematic  feeding,  business  methods,  and  home  grown  feeds,  this 
man  has  saved  $300  per  year  on  feed ;  at  the  same  time  has  in- 
creased the  butter  fat  production  per  cow  70  lbs.  per  year.  This 
is  an  increase  of  about  $30  per  cow  or  on  50  cows  this  record 
work  has  been  worth  $1,500  to  this  man.  This  is  not  the  only 
improvement  he  has  made;  he  has  increased  the  fertility  of 
his  soil  until  other  farmers  around  him  are  commenting  on  the 
excellent  crops  on  his  farm. 

This  work  of  record  keeping  is  being  carried  on  with  several 
other  farmers  with  excellent  results.  One  dairyman  at  Monroe. 
La.,  last  week  found  that  three  of  his  cows  were  making  more 
profit  than  the  other  nine.  It  is  essential,  with  the  high  price  of 
feed,  that  the  dairyman  feed  only  cows  that  are  capable  of  turn- 
ing that  feed  into  butterfat  and  leave  a  profit.  With  the  ad- 
vancing prices  of  dairy  feeds  it  is  fast  becoming  necessary  for 
the  dairy  farmer  to  "weed  out"  all  unprofitable  cows  or  else  he 
will  find  the  dairy  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  ledger.  Many  dairy- 
men are  planning  on  more  home  grown  feed  than  they  have 
ever  raised  before.  They  are  very  wise  to  do  this  under  the 
present  outlook.  Some  of  the  dairymen  who  have  been  raising 
their  own  feed  are  setting  the  pace  in  the  dairy  business  for  the 
rest  of  the  farmers.  One  man  on  the  cut-over  lands  has  been 
in  the  dairy  business  for  about  five  years  and  each  year  he  has 
increased  the  amount  of  home  grown  feed.  Last  year  he  built 
a  silo  and  raised  corn  for  50  tons  of  silage ;  in  addition  he  has 
sufficient  soy  beans  and  pea-vine  hay  to  feed  all  the  stock 
through  the  year.  All  the  grain  he  had  to  buy  was  a  little  cot- 
tonseed meal  to  help  balance  up  the  ration.  This  dairyman  is 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  men  in  that  portion  of  the  state. 
This  year  he  is  planning  on  building  a  new  house  with  the  sav- 
ings from  the  cream  checks  (and  he  saved  a  little  each  month 
because  he  did  not  have  to  swop  his  cream  checks  for  feed). 
This  man  used  his  land  to  help  feed  his  dairy  and  he  used  his 
dairy  to  help  feed  his  land.    The  two  are  working  well  together, 


Three  Cows 
Worth  More 
Than  Nine 


178 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


and  the  crop  production  is  getting  bigger  each  year.  He  is  well 
pleased  with  the  results  from  the  dairy  and  knows  that  the  dairy 
and  the  land  must  work  together.  When  we  consider  that  this 
man  started  with  little  or  no  capital,  on  a  poor  farm,  with  no 
buildings  worth  speaking  of,  we  must  realize  that  he  has  been 
following  a  safe  method.  His  method  or  prime  object  has  been 
to  build  up  the  land  by  the  use  of  the  dairy  fertilizer,  to  grow 
all  the  roughage  for  the  dairy,  and  as  much  of  the  grain  as  pos- 
sible; he  has  also  practised  rotation  of  crops  to  good  advantage. 
The  results  of  this  system  is  being  noticed  by  other  farmers  in 
that  locality.  Several  are  beginning  to  follow  the  same  method. 
It  has  been  clearly  shown  that  feed  crops  can  be  grown  on  the 
hilly  lands  and  on  the  cut-over  lands  and  must  be  grown  if  the 
farmer  ever  expects  to  make  a  success.  He  must  also  realize 
that  the  land  cannot  do  its  best  without  live  stock  on  it ;  that  the 
dairy  in  particular  will  build  up  the  land  faster  than  can  be  done 
by  any  other  method ;  also  he  must  realize  that  in  keeping  the 
dairy  he  must  grow  his  own  feed,  or  at  least  all  the  roughage 
His  Own  Feed  and  as  much  of  the  grain  feeds  as  possible. 

Last  year  we  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  on  the  worn  out 
cotton  lands  of  North  Louisiana  urging  the  farmers  to  plant 
velvet  beans.  We  had  some  difficulty  to  get  them  to  try  this 
plan.  Several  tried  velvet  beans,  however,  and  this  year  the 
difficulty  is  to  get  enough  seed.  Some  of  the  dairymen  who  did 
not  raise  their  own  feed  are  going  out  of  the  business ;  those  who 
raised  their  feed  are  making  good.  The  difference  between  the 
dairyman  who  raises  his  own  feed  and  the  one  who  buys  his  feed 
is  the  difference  between  success  and  failure.  As  the  prices  of 
feed  stuffs  advance,  this  difference  becomes  greater.  It  is  im- 
perative that  we  urge  in  every  possible  way  the  dairyman  to 
grow  his  own  feed.  Our  whole  campaign  at  present  is  "home 
grown  feed  and  better  cows." 


To  Succeed, 
Dairyman 
Must  Raise 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constviictive  Era  179 

Some  Suggestions  for  Dairy- 
ing on  Cut-Over  Lands 

By  N.  P.  Hull 

President  of  the  National  Dairy  Union 

As  your  chairman  says,  I  have  come  a  long  way — came 
down  from  Lansing,  Michigan.  I  have  been  interested  in  dairy- 
ing all  my  life ;  started  in  to  milk  cows  when  I  was  knee  high  to 
a  June  bug  and  have  followed  it  all  my  life.  I  have  come  South 
to  tell  you  about  the  dairy  business  and  how  it  ought  to  be  ap- 
plied in  the  South.  I  will  tell  you  that  story  in  ten  minutes.  I 
can  talk  pretty  quickly,  too.  Perhaps  you  want  to  know  why : 
Up  in  Michigan  we  manufacture  72  per  cent  of  all  the  automo- 
biles made  in  the  United  States.  We  don't  use  them  all  there  but 
w^e  test  them  all  there.  These  automobiles  run  up  and  down  and 
all  around,  and  the  people  there  are  divided  into  two  classes — the 
quick  and  the  dead.     (Laughter.) 

I  am  not  going  to  say  all  I  had  in  mind  to  say  to  you.  1 
have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  soil 
and  the  wonderful  opportunities  in  the  Southland.  I  have 
traveled  over  this  Southland  considerably,  as  well  as  over  the 
other  lands — practically  all  the  other  states.  In  my  work  con- 
nected with  the  National  Dairy  Union,  and  as  President  of  the 
American  Dairy  Farmers'  Association,  and  connected  with  sev- 
eral other  associations,  I  have  lectured  on  dairying  from  one 
ocean  to  the  other,  and  for  two  years  to  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment. So  I  feel  I  have  at  least  had  an  opportunity  to  know 
something  about  dairying.  I  have  also  had  an  opportunity  to 
know  something  about  conditions  in  the  different  sections  of  the 
United  States. 

I  might  repeat  again- — I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the 
opportunities  of  the  Southland.  I  am  running  a  dairy  in  Michi- 
gan, and  a  great  many  other  people  are.  We  are  buying  carload 
after  carload  of  cottonseed  meal  grown  upon  the  land  of  the 
South.  We  pay  $1.00  for  your  cottonseed  meal  for  feeding  to  our 
dairy  cows,  and  from  those  dairy  cows  we  send  the  butter  back 
to  New  Orleans  and  sell  it.  and  we  sell  vou  two  dollars'  worth 


180 


The.  Dawn,  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Milking  a  Dol- 
lar Bring  Two 
in  Return 


Dairying 
Makes  High- 
Priced  Rich 
Lands 


Three  Kinds 
of  Cows 


of  butter  for  every  dollar's  worth  of  cottonseed  meal  we  buy 
from  you.  Your  land  grows  that  cottonseed  meal ;  it  takes  the 
fertility  from  your  lands;  you  send  it  to  us,  and  we  feed  it  to 
our  dairy  cows,  and  sell  it  back  to  you  for  $2.00.  That  may  be 
good  business  for  you  in  the  South,  but  I  don't  see  how  it  can 
be.  We  are  satisfied  if  you  are.  But  you  ought  not  to  be  satis- 
fied, gentlemen.  It  means  that  the  man  who  tills  the  land  here 
in  the  South  should  not  blight  the  land  he  tills,  and  too  many  of 
you  fellows  here  in  the  South  have  been  blighting  your  land  until 
it  is  not  as  good  and  attractive  land  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 
You  ask  me  how  I  know?  I  don't  know  just  about  this  par- 
ticular vicinity,  but  I  do  know  about  several  other  vicinities,  and 
I  dare  say  it  is  true  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

Now  the  solution.  In  my  judgment — and  I  know  it  is  true 
in  every  other  section — you  go  to  the  richest  and  highest  price 
land  in  Iowa,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
industry  that  made  that  high  price  and  made  the  farmers  that 
handle  that  land  so  prosperous,  was  dairying.  You  go  into  the 
cut-over  land  of  Michigan  and  find  a  man  who  is  improving  the 
fertility  of  those  farms,  to  make  them  productive,  and  you  will 
find  he  is  improving  them  by  the  industry  of  dairying.  It  is  true 
on  high  priced  and  on  low  priced  land.  Why  ?  Because  the  cow 
will  take  the  product  of  your  farm  and  convert  it  into  more  dollars, 
carrying  a  larger  percentage  of  profit  than  any  other  animal  that 
walks  on  four  legs.  She  has  done  it  in  the  past  and  will  do  it  in 
the  future. 

As  one  of  the  speakers  said,  there  are  certain  essentials  that 
must  be  observed  on  the  farm.  First,  you  must  have  a  good 
cow.  There  are  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  as  well  as  in  every 
state,  three  kinds  of  cows.  One  kind  of  cow  takes  her  feed  and 
digests  it,  and  under  the  law  of  her  nature  she  converts  that  into 
beef.  That  is  a  beef  cow.  It  doesn't  make  any  difference  whether 
she  is  Hereford,  or  Shorthorn  or  Angus.  If  she  converts  that 
into  flesh  she  is  a  beef  cow.  Another  kind  takes  her  feed  and 
assimilates  it,  and  because  of  the  law  of  her  nature  she  converts 
that  into  milk.  That  is  a  dairy  cow ;  and  it  doesn't  make  any 
difference  what  breed  or  color  she  is ;  if  by  the  law  of  her  na- 
ture she  converts  that  into  milk,  she  is  a  dairy  cow.  Another 
kind  of  cow  takes  her  feed,  and  God  only  knows  what  she  does 
with  it — she  neither  makes  meat  nor  milk  with  it.     (Applause.) 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  181 


I  want  to  say  to  you  gentlemen  just  remember  that  little 
message  from  the  men  of  the  North — too  many  of  you  fellows  are 
spending  your  lives  growing  that  cow  that  is  in  the  third  class. 
She  should  be  got  rid  of.  You  are  keeping  too  many  cows  that 
came  too  near  to  being  born  steers.     (Laughter.) 

I  promised  I  wouldn't  talk  over  ten  minutes ;  I  have  two 
minutes  more.  As  I  said,  I  am  President  of  the  National  Dairy 
Union.  It  was  organized  especially  to  protect  the  good  cow  and 
the  product  of  that  cow  from  vicious  and  unfair  competition  of 
the  socalled  substitute,  oleomargarine.  I  just  want  to  drop 
this  little  word  to  you  before  I  leave.  In  our  work  in  Washing- 
ton we  found  that  the  Congressmen  and  Senators  from  the  South 
are  usually  against  us  and  with  the  oleomargarine  fellows.  I 
just  want  to  say  this  to  you :  I  want  to  ask  why  your  represen- 
tatives are  against  the  dairy  cow  and  honest  dairy  products ;  why 
your  men  say  that  the  man  who  manufactures  oleomargarine  is  Oleomargar- 
just  as  good  and  has  just  as  good  a  right  as  we  have.  Let  me  '^^  «  Menace 
ask  you  why  it  is  that  a  man  colors  butter?  To  make  it  look 
exactly  like  what  it  is.  Why  does  a  man  color  oleomargarine? 
To  make  it  look  like  what  it  is  not,  and  so  that  he  may  sell  it  at 
the  price  of  butter,  which  it  is  not.  You  are  getting  swindled  both 
ways.  I  want  you  to  think  about  that,  and  stand  with  us  of  the  North 
to  protect  the  cow.  Probably  you  have  several  million  dollars  that 
you  want  to  buy  oleomargarine  with.  Instead  of  doing  that,  go  into 
the  dairy  business ;  feed  out  your  own  cottonseed  meal,  and  your 
velvet  bean  and  other  products  that  you  grow ;  return  the  ferti- 
lizer to  your  farm,  which  will  enable  you  to  have  better  farms 
as  the  years  go  by.  You  will  find  that  that  good  old  cow  will  do 
more  for  you  than  any  other  animal  that  ever  walked  on  four 
legs.     I  thank  you.     (Applause.) 


to  Dairying 


182 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Early  Work 
in  Tick  Erad- 
ication 


Popular 

Approval 

Necessary 


Tick  Eradication 

By  Dr.  E.  I.  Smith 

Inspector  in  Charge  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry, 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Baton  Rouge,  La. 

In  taking  up  the  subject  of  "Tick  Eradication,"  I  will  briefly 
outline  the  history  in  the  State.  In  1906  the  State  of  Louisiana 
began  its  first  work  in  tick  eradication.  At  that  time  there  were 
two  Parishes  which  started  work  along  such  lines  ;  that  is,  Lincoln 
and  Claiborne,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  commenced  operations 
largely  because  the  State  and  Government  urged  them  for  the 
purpose  of  seeing  what  could  be  done  in  Louisiana ;  and  if  the 
results  were  satisfactory  it  might  have  a  tendency  to  encourage 
the  other  Parishes  to  do  likewise.  After  a  few  months  Lincoln 
Parish  decided  to  withdraw  her  co-operation  on  account  of  so 
much  opposition  developing  in  her  borders;  but  Claiborne  Parish 
continued  until  1912,  when  they  were  released  from  quarantine. 
For  some  reason  or  other  Claiborne  Parish  did  not  furnish  the 
proper  co-operation,  and  the  State  and  Bureau  officials  bore 
most  of  the  expenses,  and,  as  a  result,  when  the  Parish  was 
released  they  failed  to  appreciate  the  advantage  of  taking  care 
of  the  local  infestation  left  in  the  Parish  and  enforcing  the  law 
when  necessary.  In  this  connection,  I  regret  to  state  that  they 
were  placed  back  in  quarantine  the  first  day  of  March,  1917,  with 
the  same  status  relative  to  the  cattle  tick  as  any  quarantined 
Parish  in  the  State. 

This  vividly  illustrates  one  prominent  point :  Notably,  any 
Parish  or  County  in  any  State  which  starts  tick  eradication  with- 
out the  co-operation  of  the  people  is  an  absolute  failure.  In  such 
cases  more  harm  will  result  than  good,  because  people  believe 
that  the  officials  higher  up  are  endeavoring  to  make  them  do 
something   which   is   not  for  their  interest. 

This  year  we  had  a  few  Parishes  that  were  very  anxious 
to  commence  systematic  tick  eradication,  and  the  Police  Jury 
called  us  into  conference,  asking  our  advice,  and  at  the  same  time 
stating  how  many  vats  they  had,  and  in  what  position  they  were 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  183 

financially.  After  taking  into  consideration  their  financial  con- 
dition, and  the  small  number  of  vats  in  operation,  we  plainly  said 
to  them,  "Gentlemen,  you  are  not  ready  to  commence  active 
work  in  tick  eradication ;  you  have  not  the  sufficient  number  of 
dipping  vats,  and  your  financial  condition  is  not  in  a  shape  to 
allow  you  to  fully  do-operate  throughout  the  season.  You 
should  wait  until  you  have  the  last  number  of  vats  completed, 
and  sufficient  money  so  that  you  will  be  able  to  work  for  the 
best  interest  of  the  Parish,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  best 
result.  It  would  be  folly  for  us  to  attempt  to  co-operate  with 
you  at  this  time,  as  it  would  waste  both  Government  and  State 
funds." 

Last  year  we  worked  systematically  in  eight  Parishes,  and 
this  year  we  are  working  in  the  same  manner  in  nineteen 
Parishes,  and  it  is  our  fondest  hopes  that  these  Parishes  will 
be  released  from  quarantine  this  fall.  They  are  giving  excellent 
co-operation  and  the  people,  as  a  whole,  are  lending  their  splendid 
influence  to  the  work  and  doing  all  in  their  power  to  see  that 
the  cattle  tick  is  completely  eradicated. 

Last  year  the  State  Legislature  passed  a  law  which  pro- 
vided that  tick  eradication  must  be  taken  up  over  the  entire 
State  not  later  than  the  spring  of  1918.  Mississippi,  Arkansas 
and  Texas  have  also  passed  State-wide  tick  eradication  laws. 
His  excellency,  the  Governor  of  Arkansas,  told  you  yesterday 
that  they  had  vigorously  legislated  against  the  "Tick."  Such 
action  means  that  within  the  next  three  or  four  years  there  will 
be  no  cattle  ticks  in  the  States  which  are  taking  such  strenuous 
action  against  the  tick,  or,  if  there  are  any  in  existence,  it  means 
that  they  will  be  located  and  absolutely  under  control.  The  tick  "The  Tick 
must  go.  History  has  taught  us  that  it  does  not  belong  in  this  Must  Go" 
country.  It  was  first  brought  from  Spain  to  old  Mexico,  and 
from  there  it  has  rapidly  spread  over  the  southern  states ;  par- 
ticularly, where  the  climatic  conditions  would  best  permit  its 
multiplication.  It  is  the  southern  people,  with  their  splendid 
co-operation,  who  have  decided  that  the  tick  is  a  nuisance ; 
and  they  have  further  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  is  not 
only  a  misfortune  but  a  disgrace  to  allow  such  an  infernal  para- 
site to  destroy  such  a  possibility  of  greater  cattle  raising  in  the 
South.  It  is  possible  to  hinder  tick  eradication,  and  it  is  also 
possible  to  set  it  back  a  little;  but,  gentlemen,  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  to  completely  stop  tick  eradication.     In  other  words. 


184 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Opposition 
Fast  Disap- 
pearing 


it  is  a  road-roller.  Last  year  our  records  show  that  we  had 
1,516,000  dippings  of  cattle  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  under 
supervision.  That,  you  will  see,  is  working  a  hardship  on  the 
ticks  when  you  have  over  one  and  a  half  million  dippings  in  eight 
Parishes  in  one  season.  You  will  readily  see  what  the  final 
results  will  be  this  year,  we  are  going  much  over  that,  as  our 
territory  is  larger  and  the  work  will  be  more  extensive.  In  this 
connection  I  beg  to  state  that  last  year  we  dipped  the  cattle 
every  twenty-one  days,  which  did  not  give  us  the  satisfactory 
results  desired.  This  year  the  Live  Stock  Sanitary  Board  have 
decided  that  all  new  Parishes  engaged  in  the  work  of  systematic 
tick  eradication  must  dip  their  cattle  every  fourteen  days.  This 
action  will  prove  two-fold ;  that  is,  it  will  mean  the  eradication 
of  the  tick  in  one  season  in  any  Parish,  provided  the  people 
co-operate,  and,  as  a  result,  will  conserve  the  Parish,  State,  and 
Government  funds.  So  far  the  people  are  taking  very  kindly 
to  the  fourteen  day  dipping,  and  we  anticipate  very  little  trouble 
in  carrying  out  such  procedure  this  year. 

In  1906  the  Federal  Government  started  tick  eradication  and 
at  that  time  they  didn't  have  any  dipping  vats  and  I  don't  sup- 
pose there  was  a  dipping  vat  in  existence.  All  disinfection  of 
cattle  was  done  by  the  greasing  method  with  a  stick  and  a 
swab  saturated  with  grease  and  they  were  able  to  place  a  little  of 
such  solution  on  each  animal.  In  this  connection,  you  can 
imagine  what  kind  of  a  job  that  would  be  if  we  had  to  grease 
a  million  and  a  half  cattle  in  one  season.  It  would  take  more 
than  one  season  to  do  it,  and  when  we  get  through  the  results 
would  not  be  satisfactory.  Of  course,  by  this  method  various 
states  succeeded  in  eradicating  large  areas  from  the  ravages  of 
the  cattle  tick,  but  such  areas  were  located  mostly  in  counties 
where  one  could  quite  easily  find  the  cattle,  but,  if  you  under- 
took such  a  piece  of  work  in  many  sections  on  this  Cut-Over 
Timber  Land,  we  would  meet  with  nothing!  but  failure.  The 
people  at  that  time,  along  in  1906,  1907,  1908,  didn't  know  much 
about  tick  eradication,  consequently  they  were  very  skeptical. 
The  question  was  frequently  asked,  "Could  it  be  done?"  And, 
of  course,  there  were  certain  classes  that  were  quick  to  answer 
"No,"  with  the  explanation  that  we  had  ticks  on  every  animal, 
both  wild  and  domestic,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  maintain 
a  quarantine  over  the  wild  animals.  Today,  the  people  look 
upon  the  matter  in  a  very  much  different  viewpoint,  and  the 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  185 

question  they  are  now  asking  to  the  State  and  Bureau  officials  is : 
"When  can  you  send  a  trained  man  here  to  supervise  tick 
eradication  in  our  locality?"  Such  requests  are  coming  in  al- 
ready, at  such  a  rate  that  we  are  unable  to  furnish  supervisors  at 
once  to  every  Parish  and  County  ready  to  work. 

Next  year  the  new  state-wide  Tick  Eradication  Law  for 
Louisiana  goes  into  effect,  which  means  that  this  State  will  be 
a  leader  in  the  complete  elimination  of  the  cattle  tick.  When  the 
State  Legislature  passed  the  law  they  very  unwisely,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  perhaps  on  account  of  shortage  of  finances,  did 
not  provide  a  sufficient  amount  of  money  to  carry  out  the  work- 
ing of  the  law.  The  Governor  of  Arkansas  told  you  yesterday  More  Money 
that  they  had  appropriated  $50,000  in  their  State  to  wage  war  ^^^^ed  to 
against  the  cattle  tick.  This  State  hasn't  but  about  $10,000  to  Ty„_iu 
do  what  they  expect  to  do  with  $50,000.  If  the  people  of  Louis- 
iana are  enthusiastic  enough  to  pass  a  state-wide  law  for  the 
eradication  of  the  cattle  tick,  they  should  go  before  the  Legis- 
lative Committee  on  Finance  and  demand  that  the  proper  ap- 
propriation be  made.  Other  Southern  States  engaged  in  this 
work  are  furnishing  large  sums  to  meet  all  the  demands  of  the 
work.  Many  Parishes  in  this  State  are  carrying  on  tick  eradi- 
cation with  their  own  funds  without  any  assistance  from  the 
State.  One  Parish,  particularly,  in  this  State  has  built  some- 
thing like  fifty  public  dipping  vats  within  the  last  thirty  days, 
and  the  State  is  unable  to  contribute  one  dollar  towards  such 
progress.  A  great  many  Parishes  in  Louisiana  have  been  unable 
to  do  systematic  tick  eradication  this  season  because  they  did 
not  have  the  funds,  and  in  this  connection  I  believe  there  should 
have  been  some  organization,  perhaps  financed  by  lumber  in- 
terests, that  could  furnish  each  Parish  with  a  sufficient  amount 
of  money  to  enable  them  to  commence  active  operation.  I  be- 
lieve, Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  would  be  a  very  co-operative 
movement  as  it  would  help  the  Parish  in  question,  and  the 
money  so  loaned  would  be  drawing  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest. 
I  have  in  mind  one  Parish  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  where 
the  Police  Jury  were  willing  to  co-operate  with  the  State  and 
Bureau  force  for  the  purpose  of  eliminating  the  cattle  tick,  but 
they  were  absolutely  unable  to  borrow  money  to  conduct  the 
work,  and  in  this  connection  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  the 
law  permitted  them  to  borrow  money,  otherwise  they  would  not 
endeavor  to  carry  out  such  a  program ;  besides,  it  is  further  evi- 


186  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

dent  that  their  credit  was  g-ood.  They  had  the  disposition  and 
the  desire  to  work  with  us,  but  they  didn't  have  the  money,  and 
if  there  had  been  some  organization  in  this  State  that  could  have 
furnished  them  the  money  at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest  they 
would  have  been  working  systematically  at  this  time  and  un- 
doubtedly be  in  a  position  to  be  added  to  the  free  area  this  fall. 

One  gentleman  this  morning  struck  the  keynote,  I  believe, 
on  this  cut-over  timber  land  proposition,  when  he  said  that  these 
lands  ought  to  be  fenced.  Such  lands  are  raising  cattle  for 
people  who  do  not  own  an  acre  of  land.  They  own  the  cattle 
and,  apparently,  depend  upon  charity  for  the  privilege  of  grazing 
them,  and  when  you  talk  to  such  individuals  about  dipping  their 
cattle  they  are  inclined  to  develop  opposition.  Those  are  just 
the  menacing  conditions  that  exist  over  the  cut-over  timber  land 
territory,  and,  you  know,  a  menace  located  here  and  there  may 
seriously  interfere  with  a  great  organized  effort.  These  people 
have  no  business  to  raise  cattle,  graze  them  on  somebody  else's 
property,  and  then  keep  up  an  opposition  against  a  great  piece 
The  Evil  of  of  constructive  work  like  tick  eradication.  If  these  lands  in  such 
the  Open  sections  in  the  South  were  fenced  we  would  expect  no  opposi- 

^^^^  tion   from   the  individuals  who.  were   using  such   lands,   and   it 

would  also  prevent,  from  a  certain  extent,  the  destruction  of  a 
number  of  dipping  vats  Avhich  has  been  going  on  within  the  last 
few  months.  A  number  of  them  have  been"  dynamited  in  this 
State — I  think  about  twelve  or  fifteen — and  an  equal  number  in 
Mississippi.  Dynamiting,  of  course,  is  very  destructive,  and 
undesirable  in  such  instances.  But,  after  all,  it  is  a  large  adver- 
tising factor,  because  it  starts  the  people  talking  about  something 
they  never  gave  serious  attention  to  before;  that  is,  it  separates 
the  good  fair-minded  class  from  the  crirpinal  element  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  better  class  condemns  such  lowdown  principles 
as  the  destruction  of  public  property. 

The  cut-over  timber  lands  are  indeed  great.  Only  day  be- 
fore yesterday  I  was  riding  through  Washington  Parish,  which, 
of  course,  gave  me  the  opportunity  to  observe  carefully  the  cut- 
over  timber  land  section,  and  as  one  rides  through  such  country 
he  cannot  help  from  being  impressed  with  the  better  appearance 
of  the  country.  The  land  is  of  a  rolling  nature,  well  watered  and 
dotted  here  and  there  with  little  dense  forests  which  can  be  con- 
trolled or  allowed  to  spread.  The  character  of  the  soil  appears 
to  be  equal  to  the  average  and  as  Doctor  Dodson  told  you  this 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


187 


morning  the  expression  "poor  land"  has  no  place  in  our  vocabu- 
lary, and  does  not  mean  anything.  I  think,  if  some  of  these  lands 
could  be  fenced  in,  cattle  put  on  them  in  charge  of  competent 
herdsmen  under  the  supervision  of  lumber  corporations  there 
would  be  great  rewards  gained,  not  only  in  a  financial  way  but 
as  an  advertising  medium.  I  know  right  now  where  there  are 
over  6,000  head  of  cattle  going  out  of  this  State  within  the  next 
thirty  days  to  Texas.  It  appears  to  me  that  they  could  be  used 
to  an  excellent  advantage  on  some  of  our  cut-over  timber  lands 
in  Louisiana.  It  would  be  a  great  advantage  and  I  think  an 
excellent  investment  to  try  and  do  something  like  that,  partic- 
ularly at  this  time  of  the  year  when  the  grasses  are  excellent. 
So,  gentlemen,  if  there  is  anything  you  can  do  along  the  line 
just  indicated,  do  it. 

Another  speaker  said  this  should  be  observed  from  a  mili- 
tary standpoint ;  that  is,  preparedness  in  the  way  of  raising  more 
food  products.  We  may  need  preparedness  today,  but  we  will 
need  it  a  year  from  today  just  as  much,  if  not  more.  Conse- 
quently, it  is  never  too  late  to  get  ready.  Any  effort,  by  any 
organization,  in  the  way  of  financing  this  cause  would  make  you 
gainers  in  the  end.  The  State  of  Louisiana,  we  hope,  will  be 
free  from  the  dreaded  cattle  tick  within  the  next  three  or  four 
years.  In  the  outset  there  has  been  released  over  300,000  square 
miles,  which  represents  nearly  one-half  of  the  territory  quaran- 
tined on  account  of  the  existence  of  the  cattle  tick.  That,  I 
think,  is  a  very  good  record.  It  has  been  accomplished  through 
the  splendid  co-operation  of  the  Southern  people,  who  have  spent 
two  dollars  in  this  cause  for  every  dollar  spent  by  our  United 
States  Government.  I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  time 
you  have  given  me.     (Applause.) 


Cattle  Sent  to 
Other  States 
for  Fattening 


300,000 
Square  Miles 
in  Louisiana 
Released  from 
Quarantine 


188  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

Stumps  and  Their  Practical 
Removal 

By  Carl  D.  Livingston 

University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 

I  had  prepared  a  talk  before  this  Conference  on  the  sub- 
ject of  "Stumps  and  Their  Practical  Removal,"  but  after  listen- 
ing to  every  word  that  has  been  said  here  at  this  Conference  for 
the  last  two  and  a  half  days  I  have  decided  to  change  it,  and 
instead  of  talking  in  technicalities  to  tell  you,  first — or  rather  to 
analyze  the  land  clearing  situation  roughly  from  an  engineering 
point  of  view ;  second,  to  show  just  how  we  tackled  this  problem 
in  Wisconsin  and  the  good  results  we  got  from  it;  and  third,  to 
suggest,  if  I  may,  how  the  Southern  states  can  profit  by  our  ex- 
periences and  our  mistakes. 

The  modern  engineering  methods  and  modern  engineering 
tools  have  not  been  given  as  much  importance  in  the  subject  of 
clearing  lands  as  they  should  be.  Modern  engineering  practices 
will  play  a  very  important  part  in  the  development  of  our  cut- 
over  land  regions ;  but  I  would  like  to  make  a  statement  right 
Experiments  ^^^  ^j^^^  ^^  forestall  some  criticism.  What  I  will  say  in  re- 
the  South  May  ,  i      j     •      j  ^-     ^      ^  •  •      .^v. 

Profit  Bu  S^^^  **-*  cut-over  lands  is  due  entirely  to  an  experience  in  the 

Lake  states  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  I  don't  say  that  the  novel 
methods  that  we  have  worked  out  in  Wisconsin  can  be  wholly 
adopted  by  the  South ;  but  I  do  believe  the  methods  of  investiga- 
tion and  demonstration  that  we  have  been  using  are  of  interest 
to  you. 

Now,  stump  lands — I  believe  it  will  be  generally  admitted 
by  those,  especially,  who  own  them,  that  they  are  not  generally 
sought  after  by  those  people  who  desire  new  homes  in  cut-over 
lands.  Now,  why  is  this  the  case?  The  answer  is  easy — it  is  the 
stumps.  It  is  the  fear  of  the  stumps  that  keeps  people  from  the 
cut-over  lands.  If  there  were  no  stumps  the  Lake  states  or  the 
Pacific  Coast  or  the  South  would  have  no  more  of  a  development 
problem  than  do  Illinois  or  Iowa, 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


189 


Why  are  people  afraid  of  the  stumps?     Is  it  not  because  the 
methods  used  have  been  so  cumbersome  and  the  tools  so  primi-  Drudgery  of 
tive  and  used  for  so  many  generations  that  the  people,  g-ener-  Stamp  Re- 
ally,  have  gotten  the  idea  that  making  a  home  in  cut-over  lands  ^^o^Q'  Ended 
means  long,  slow  years  of  laborious  back-breaking  toil?     Now, 
is  not  that  the  case? 

The  reclaiming  of  Western  lands  by  irrigation  is  just  as 
hard ;  it  is  almost  as  slow ;  it  is  practically  as  costly  in  leveling 
them  and  getting  irrigation  in ;  but  the  people  generally  do  not 
recognize  that  fact ;  it  has  not  been  given  the  publicity  which 
cut-over  land  has ;  and,  therefore,  people  going  out  into  a  new 
country  will  go  to  those  places  in  preference  to  the  cut-over 
land  area.  Even  the  artists  recognize  that  clearing  land  is  hard, 
laborious  work.  In  the  National  Library,  at  Washington,  there 
are  seven  or  eight  semi-circular  paintings  in  the  ceiling  that 
depict  various  home  scenes — religion,  art,  etc. — and  the  artist 
for  labor  has  shown  a  picture  of  a  man  with  a  grub  hoe,  trying 
to  grub  out  a  fairly  sized  stump,  and  if  that  isn't  labor  I  don't 
know  what  is.  Such  things  no  longer  exist  in  land  clearing,  but, 
like  a  lot  of  other  fears  and  superstitions,  it  will  take  some  real 
education  and  rural  demonstration  before  those  ideas  can  be  rid  ' 
of  in  the  minds  of  the  people  who  are  coming  in  and  who  already 
are  in  these  cut-over  lands. 

We  have  shown  in  Wisconsin  that  we  can  reduce  the  cost, 
reduce  the  time  and  reduce  the  drudgery  of  land  clearing,  and 
we  feel  that  just  in  the  proportion  that  we  have  done  those 
things,  we  have  made  the  cut-over  lands  popular  and  desirable. 

An  organized  effort,  directed  along  engineering  lines,  will  do 
a  great  deal  to  demonstrate  to  the  people  that  such  is  the  case,   ^^^^  Wiscon- 
and  a  clearing  house  where  all  this  information  can  be  gathered   ^j-^  Began 
together,  inspected,  and,  if  found  good,  given  publicity;  and  if   Organized 
found  bad,  condemned ;  if  such  an  institution  can  be  formed,  a   Efforts 
clearing  house,  it  will  have  more  value  than  any  other  one  thing, 
in  my  opinion,  that  can  happen  to  the  cut-over  lands. 

As  evidence  of  these  statements,  I  wish  to  offer  the  work  of 
the  Department  of  Agricultural  Engineering  at  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.  A  year  and  a  half  ago  a  special  branch  was  or- 
ganized, the  sole  purpose  of  which  was  to  deal  with  problems 
connected  with  clearing  cut-over  lands.  Previous  to  that  there 
was  no  exclusive  agency  in  the  Lake  states  where  any  man  could 


190  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Free  Informa- 
tion Service 
for  the 
Farmer 


get  any  land  clearing  information  of  value.  The  new  fellows 
coming  into  Wisconsin — there  are  five  thousand  a  year — those 
new  fellows  had  no  place  to  go  where  they  could  get  any  reliable 
information  on  land  clearing  subjects.  It  was  something  like 
the  Dark  Ages  before  arriving  at  the  common  method  of  pre- 
serving ideas.  Already  we  have  in  Wisconsin,  this  spring,  great-  • 
er  activities  than  they  have  ever  had  heretofore;  and  that,  we 
believe,  in  a  measure,  is  a  direct  result  of  our  work  and  the  Avork 
that  we  caused  to  be  swung  into  line. 

We  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  country  the  different  ap- 
pliances men  have  used — a  piler  from  Georgia,  a  hand  puller 
here,  a  steam  rigger  from  the  Pacific  Coast,  a  side  trip  from 
Minnesota ;  and  if  they  are  any  good  we  say  so,  and  if  they  are 
bad  we  say  so. 

As  specific  illustrations  of  what  we  have  done  in  the  way  of 
being  a  clearing  house,  I  have  brought  these  models  along,  and 
will  take  a  few  minutes  to  show  them  to  you  as  a  specific  illus- 
tration that  there  are  scattered  throughout  the  country  and  the 
whole  earth  a  lot  of  perfectly  good  ideas,  such  as  these,  which 
men  have  worked,  that  have  helped  them  to  solve  their  individual 
problems;  and  those  little  ideas  have  remained  right  in  their 
communities  and  have  never  been  given  any  publicity  at  all. 

(A  demonstration  of  the  models.) 

The  way  we  get  those  before  the  public :  We  make  blue- 
prints of  them  and  these  can  be  had  for  a  small  price.  We  sent 
them  out  free  of  charge  for  a  while,  until  we  began  to  get  blanket 
orders  for  six  copies  of  each  one. 

The  materials  that  we  have  perfected  ourselves,  we  do  not 
patent ;  but  we  fix  it  so  no  one  else  can  obtain  it  for  private  gain. 
They  can  use  it,  but  not  patent  it. 

Our  largest  single  effort  was  to  conduct  two  land  clearing 
demonstration  trains  over  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  This 
was  a  co-operative  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  railroads,  who 
furnished  the  cars  and  carried  them  all  over  their  line  free  of 
charge;  the  stump  puller  people,  who  gave  us  their  men  and 
paid  their  expenses ;  the  explosive  companies  paid  their  part  of 
it  and  furnished  the  explosives;  the  man  on  whose  farm  we 
stopped  furnished  the  teams ;  and  the  merchant  usually  gave  a 
free  lunch  or  some  other  attraction.  Each  train  had  eight  cars 
in  it.     We  carried  a  crew  of  eighteen  men.     We  did  the  actual 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  191 

work  in  the  field.     We  divided  up  an  area  and  put  a  different 

kind  in  each  tract  and  then  sent  the  various  different  kinds  of 

equipment  on  the  stumps.     We  didn't  advocate  any  method  of 

clearing.     We  just  showed  what  dynamite  and   stump  pullers 

would  do  alone  and  in  connection  with  each  other.     In  the  even-   , 

,    ,  ,  .  •  ,      1  1  1      •  1      1       r  Land  Clear- 

ing we  held  meetmgs  with  the  townspeople  and  with  the  farm-    .      y^Q.-n- 

ers,  in  an  endeavor  to  get  them  to  talk  about  their  problems  and  Demonstrate 
their  individual  problems,  and  what  they  could  do  themselves  for  Work 
their  own  salvation.  Some  of  the  specific  things  we  accom- 
plished were  these :  We  gave  a  decided  interest  to  the  general 
land  clearing  men.  We  speeded  up  the  work  and  helped  to  re- 
duce the  cost  and  remove  the  drudgery,  and  instituted,  or  en- 
couraged, a  follow-up  system  which  is  showing  results  this  year 
as  never  before. 

I  might  enlarge  upon  these  points.  As  far  as  impetus  is 
concerned,  the  whole  country  seems  to  be  talking  about  stumps 
now  and  their  practical  removal.  The  boys  are  holding  debates 
on  it  in  the  high  schools  and  forming  small  clubs  and  associa- 
tions of  that  nature.  The  20,000  people  who  saw  those  demon- 
strations were  enthusiastic  over  the  things  they  saw.  Rural 
credits  have  been  greatly  stimulated,  and  now  the  bankers  are 
willing  to  co-operate  with  the  farmers  as  they  have  never  done 
before,  in  loaning  them  money  for  land  clearing  purposes.  They  gf^^jj^g  Loan 
realize  that  when  he  tackles  a  job  of  that  kind,  that  bank  cannot  Money  for 
make  a  better  investment  than  to  furnish  him  the  means  of  stay-  Farm  Im- 
ing  on  his  land  and  clearing  it  himself.  I  merely  want  to  cite  provement 
one  instance  of  this  kind.  One  of  the  bank  officials  said  to  us 
he  wouldn't  have  a  stick  of  dynamite  on  his  land ;  "the  only 
thing  I  use  that  for  is  to  blow  up  the  posters  you  furnish."  Well, 
after  a  demonstration,  here  is  what  he  came  out  with:  (Show- 
ing a  poster)  "Farmers,  let  us  help  you  clear  your  land,"  and 
they  gave  four  instances  where  they  will  lend  money :  One,  for 
fencing  timber  or  land  ;  two,  for  buying  stock,  dairy  or  beef ; 
three,  for  developing  silage  or  forage;  four,  for  stumping  your 
land. 

Land  has  always  been  cleared  too  slow  for  rapid  develop- 
ment, and  that  is  one  of  the  things  we  tried  to  show — to  increase 
the  speed.  We  wrote  that  if  a  man  didn't  have  a  team,  that  a 
one-man  stump  puller  would  do  the  work.  Horse  pullers  are 
even  better  than  the  one-man  pullers,  because  it  takes  so  much 
power  to  pull  a  stump  from  the  soil  and  your  back  has  to  be 


192  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

multiplied  so  many  times  that  it  makes  it  slower.     The  horse 

stump  pullers  are   equipped  with   accessories  so  that  you  can 

^     .     •     Tj      move  from  one  place  to  another  rapidly.    These  things  speed  the 

of  Dynamite      work  up  two,  three  and  four  times  as  fast,  compared  to  the  old 

methods. 

The  high  cost  of  stump  removal  has  been  a  very  serious 
anchor  to  the  progress  of  developing  cut-over  lands.  We  were 
able  to  show  that  where  the  people  had  been  using  40  and  60  per 
cent  dynamite,  we  could  do  absolutely  as  good  work,  stick  for 
stick,  with  20  or  30  per  cent,  and  this  has  resulted  in  a  saving  of 
from  2^  to  6  cents  per  pound.  The  lower  grades  dynamite  are 
safer  than  the  higher  grades,  too,  and  they  do  better  work.  They 
do  less  cutting  and  are  less  shattering  in  their  effect. 

We  have  heard  about  this  76  million  acres  in  the  South.    If 

there  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  stumps  per  acre,  there 

would  be  something  in  the  neighborhood  of  four  billion  stumps 

Four  Billion      -^^  ^^^  South  to  be  cleared.     Now,  I  say,  if  that  was  done  with 

Stumps  to  Be    ,  .  .  .  .  ■        Ar^  ^         .  i       ^i 

Cleared  in         dynamite,  and  you  have  been  usmg  40  per  cent,  and  by  the  use 

South  of  20  per  cent  you  could  save  2^  cents  a  pound,  that  would  be 

a  tremendous  saving.  I  merely  cite  that  as  an  instance  where 
we  were  able  to  save  the  people  of  Wisconsin  many  dollars  in 
the  use  of  this  low  grade  product  that  would  do  the  same  work. 

Dollars  are  the  controlling  factor  in  land  clearing,  because 
a  man  will  buy  dynamite  with  all  the  money  he  can  save.  If, 
by  any  system,  we  can  make  this  dynamite  two,  three  or  four 
times  safer  then  he  will  clear  two,  three  or  four  times  as  much 
land  with  the  same  expenditure ;  and  with  the  combination  of 
stump  puller,  pulling  the  stump  first,  and  then  cracking  it — and 
one-third  as  much  dynamite  is  required  to  crack  a  stump  as  to 
blow  it  entirely ;  that  means  that  the  man,  with  his  combination 
method  and  proper  equipment,  can  clear  from  three  to  five  times 
as  much  land  with  the  same  actual  cash  expenditure. 

The  tremendous  human  energy  that  has  been  wasted  in  land 

clearing  is  something  appalling.     What  we  have  accomplished, 

,-     ,  .  .if  we  have  done  nothing  else,  is  to  almost  eliminate  the  drudgery 

Machines  and  .  .  . 

Horses  Now      from  land  clearing.     I  don't  say  the  work ;  there  is  nothmg  on 

Do  the  Work     earth  that  will  enable  you  to  get  rid  of  stumps  without  work ; 

but  it  is  not   that   slow,  back-breaking,  monotonous  toil.     The 

outfit  weighs  about  thirty  pounds ;  a  man  can  take  that  to  a 

stump ;  that  is  not  drudgery.     He  stands  still  while  the  horses 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  193 

pull  the  stump  from  the  ground.  It  is  not  drudgery  to  work 
with  the  dynamite  he  uses ;  and  it  is  not  drudgery  to  pile  the 
stumps.  It  has  all  passed  from  the  man's  back  to  machines  and 
horses,  and  wherever  we  ha.ve  been  able  to  show  we  have  re- 
moved the  drudgery  we  have  made  the  cut-over  lands  popular. 
To  use  a  specific  instance :  On  one  demonstration  a  man  came 
from  Iowa  to  buy  land,  and  he  came  to  the  demonstration  and 
I  heard  him  tell  the  man  who  had  him  in  tow  that  if  these  men 
could  clear  land  with  as  little  back  work  as  that,  I  can,  too ;  and 
he  bought  450  acres  of  land  at  $25  an  acre. 

We  don't  try  to  pull  green  material.     From  our  experience 

we  find  it  will  cost  three  times  as  much  to  clear  green  land  as 

after  four  or  five  years.     Put  stock  on  it.     Work  it  and  seed  it 

with  whatever  it  grows  best,  and  then  put  it  to  sheep  and  cattle,  Deaden 

or  to  dairying.     Goats  are  all  right ;  they  are  the  best  browsers   ^'"'"^*  "^" 
,  IT  1  -1  11     •   1        ,  r  fore  Removal 

there  are;  and  if  you  have  a  wide  range,  all  right;  but  if  you 

have  it  fenced  you  will  have  to  put  in  a  38-wove  wire  fence  and 

barbed  wire  or  they  will  cut  it. 

As  to  the  follow-up  work :  It  was  apparent  that  if  we  ad- 
vocated an  equipment  that  would  take  v$200  to  buy,  it  was  plumb 
out  of  the  realm  of  a  g"reat  many  of  those  settlers ;  if  we  could 
form  a  small  society  of  three,  four  or  five  men — not  more  than 
five — and  arrange  for  the  purchase  of  such  equipment  as  we 
would  advise,  that  would  reduce  the  cost  to  about  $40  apiece. 
Then  we  went  to  the  banks  and  said,  "These  men  want  to  get 
an  outfit  of  this  kind ;  they  can  probably  clear  five  times  as 
much  land  with  this  equipment  as  with  their  older  devices" ;  and 
in  every  case  the  banks  said  they  were  willing  to  loan  money 
up  to  half  of  that  equipment,  and  three-fourths  of  the  banks 
said  they  would  loan  all  the  money. 

The  Wisconsin  Advancement  Association,  a  group  of  men 
who  have  pooled  their  interests  and  paid  1  cent  an  acre  for  the 
advancement  of  those  lands,  organized  a  campaign  for  the  pur- 
chase of  stump  pullers  and  explosives.     Forty  per  cent  dynamite   Co-operative 
had  been  retailing  in  the  neighborhood  of  17  or  18  cents.     They   Association 
proposed  to  put   in   in  carload  lots.     They  have  now,  together    *^^^,  "*  ^  *" 
with   the   aid   of   the   explosive   company,   been   able   to   put   in 
twenty  carloads  where  there  had  been  only   cases  sold  before. 
In  every  case  where  one  of  these  carloads  were  going  in  there 
had  been  only  three  or  four  hundred  pounds  sold  during  the  en- 


194 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Farms  Now 
Cleared  in 
Few  Years 


tire  year.  Just  think  wliat  that  means.  If  they  can  get  a  com- 
munity that  will  purchase  five  of  these  stump  pullers  they  can 
get  it  down  to  $112  or  $150  instead  of  $175.  One  of  the  land 
companies  there  just  issued  this  pamphlet,  which  came  in  my 
last  mail  before  leaving.  In  it  they  describe  a  clearing  method 
which  they  are  employing  for  every  five  thousand  acre  unit  that 
they  subdivide.  They  are  setting  aside  a  sum  of  $7,500  to  be 
used  in  the  purchase  of  land-clearing  equipment ;  and  all  that,  of 
course,  goes  over  to  their  purchasers.  Another  man  has  already 
organized  several  crews — he  has  thirty  competitive  crews — he 
has  a  very  large  area,  and  these  men  are  working  in  a  competi- 
tive contest,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season  prizes  will  be  given 
them.  This  greatly  stimulates  the  manufacture  and  the  dis- 
covery of  a  great  many  devices  that  would  not  otherwise  be  used. 

Now,  don't  get  the  impression  that  we  preach  any  Utopian 
scheme  in  Wisconsin,  where  we  have  some  way  of  getting  the 
stumps  out  without  work ;  but  we  have  been  able  to  show  how 
the  cost^of  clearing  land  has  been  materially  reduced,  so  that 
now  a  man,  instead  of  spending  a  lifetime,  can  clear  up  his  farm 
in  a  few  years ;  and  we  have  practically  removed  the  drudgery 
from  land-clearing  work;  and  we  have  made  the  cut-over  lands 
popular  in  just  the  proportion  which  we  have  done  these  things. 

I  might  just  take  a  moment  to  explain  what  our  future  pro- 
gram is.  We  have  been  able  to  promote  a  great  deal  of  interest 
in  the  land-clearing  movement,  but  we  have  to  find  out  some 
more  before  we  can  carry  our  demonstration  further;  and  so 
there  is  a  bill  in  the  Legislature  for  $37,000,  which  is  asked  to 
be  spent  over  a  period  of  two  years  in  conducting  further  demon- 
stration trains.  Our  plan  is  to  lay  off  areas  on  various  soil  types 
of  twenty  acres ;  develop  those  and  keep  track  of  the  methods 
that  are  used,  and  the  time  and  hours  of  man  labor  and  the  hours 
of  horse  labor  andj  the  pounds  of  dynamite.  If  we  can  do  all 
that  we  will  then  know  which  is  the  best  way  to  clear  land  in  the 
Lake  states,  and  have  a  good  idea  for  other  people  to  follow. 

I  don't  know  whether  or  not  the  conditions  we  have,  or  the 
methods  we  have  developed,  will  be  of  individual  value  to  you ; 
but  I  do  believe  that  if  you  follow  some  of  the  things  we  have 
done  you  can  expect  to  get  some  of  the  results  we  have  accom- 
plished. We  have  been  working  for  the  little  fellow  because 
there  are  some  50,000  of  them  alreadv  there. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  195 

Now,  as  to  the  suggestions  I  have  to  offer,  if  I  may :  One 
is  that,  first  of  all,  you  establish  an  office  similar  to  the  one  we 
have  established.  I  might  say  that  Michigan,  Minnesota  and 
Washington  are  establishing"  offices  along  the  same  line.  There 
surely  are  in  Louisiana.  ^Mississippi,  Alabama  and  the  other  states 
devices  and  information  such  as  we  have  here,  that  will  help 
your  men,  help  your  people  in  just  the  ratio  they  have  helped 
ours.  The  first  thing  that  ought  to  be  done  is  to  form  a  clear- 
ing house,  where  this  information  can  be  gathered  together,  and, 
if  good,  passed  on.  The  second — and  I  might  say  that  this  can  Suggests  Cen- 
best  be  established  with  your  various  Departments  of  Agriculture  ^,  Jnforma- 
and  with  your  colleges,  because  the  colleges  are  able  to  get  more  rj„..,^  /q- 
from  the  manufacturer  by  way  of  co-operation  than  almost  any  South 
other  single  agency — the  second  would  be  to  use  your  influence 
to  provide  proper  funds  for  this  work  to  be  carried  on.  Next, 
start  in  with  the  collective  demonstration,  showing  what  is  good 
and  bad  practice.  You  will  know,  then,  what  you  will  want  to 
do  with  the  investigations  end.  Try  to  co-operate,  in  all  ways, 
with  the  banks,  the  railroads,  the  manufacturers  of  dynamite  and 
the  stump  puller  people.  In  that  way  you  will  get  so  many 
people  together  that  the  movement  will  be  given  so  much  mo- 
mentum that  nothing  will  stop  it. 

M'ay  I  say  just  one  word  further?  This  is  a  little  emergency 
poster  No.  1  (indicating)  that  was  published  by  the  Wisconsin 
College  of  Agriculture,  as  a  result  of  the  demand  for  more  food. 
We  have  begun  to  get  results  from  this  already ;  and  I  have  one 
or  two  copies  here  in  case  anyone  would  like  to  see  them.  I  also 
have  one  or  two  extra  copies  of  our  land-clearing  poster.  We 
have  published  a  report  of  our  land-clearing  demonstration 
which  we  will  be  glad  to  send  to  any  who  care  to  have  it ;  and 
we  have  in  the  press  a  land-clearing  bulletin  which  is  composed 
mainly  of  pictures.  We  feel  that  if  we  can  depict  land-clearing 
conditions  and  methods  by  pictures,  that  others  can  read  the  pic- 
tures whether  they  can  read  the  English  language  or  not.  I 
thank  you.     (Applause.) 


196  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

The  Sheep  Industry  of  the 

South 

By  F.  R.  Marshall 

Senior  Animal  Husbandman  Bureau  of  Animal 

Industry,  United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture 

Mr.  Chairman,  after  this  discussion  I  am  in  somewhat  an 
embarrassing  position,  but  I  believe  I  am  complying-  with  the 
will  of  the  majority,  and  will  undertake  to  say,  very  briefly,  some 
of  the  main  essentials  of  sheep  raising. 

My  subject  permits  me  to  cover  the  entire  South,  but  I 
shall  not  endeavor  to  do  so.  I  have  been  interested  in  listening 
Importance  of  ^^  ^^^  discussions;  and  I  take  it  that  now  we  have  cleared  the 
in  the  South  ^^^"^PS  <^f^  ^^^  ^^"^  ^"d  surveyed  the  soil;  we  have  established 
pastures,  and  we  have  eradicated  the  ticks ;  I  don't  know  whether 
to  say  we  have  established  demonstration  farms,  but  we  have 
debated  it. 

You  don't  need  to  do  all  that  before  you  talk  about  going 
into  the  sheep  business.  You  could  have  done  that  without 
much  of  the  other,  but  up  to  this  time,  I  presume,  the  sheep 
business  has  seemed  to  you  a  rather  minor  and  secondary  matter ; 
but  if  you  will  acquaint  yourselves  with  the  facts  in  that  con- 
nection and  with  the  methods  of  utilization  of  these  lands,  I  be- 
lieve you  will  no  longer  agree  that  the  sheep  industry  is  a  second- 
ary proposition. 

I  (will  explain  to  you  the  reasons  for  those  views.  In  what  T 
propose  to  outline  briefly,  I  take  it  to  be  the  consensus  of  opinion 
of  this  conference  that  at  least  a  large  part  of  these  cut-over  lands 
must,  for  some  considerable  time,  at  least,  be  used  for  grazing 
purposes.  I  don't  know  how  much  or  how  long.  When  you  come 
to  consider  a  grazing  proposition,  you  have  sheep  and  cattle 
mainly  to  think  about. 

The  thing  that  has  impressed  me  most  in  this  connection, 
and  in  tTie  conservative  constructive  thinking  along  this  line,  is 
a  statement  made  by  a  gentleman  that  after  he  studied  the  means 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  197 

of  utilizing  his  lands,  he  came  to  the  point  where  he  did  not  want 
to  dispose  of  them. 

The  possibilities  and  opportunities  in  sheep  raising  are  much 
less  well  understood  than  in  cattle  raising.  There  have  been  a 
good  many  reasons  for  that  up  to  this  date.  Those  reasons  no 
longer  exist.  During  the  last  five  years,  or  two  years,  the  sheep 
business  of  this  country  has  come  in  on  an  entirely  new  basis. 
For  your  guidance  in  the  future  you  don't  have  to  study  the 
history  of  the  question  at  all. 

The  reasons  for  saying  you  don't  have  to  study  the  history 
of  the  sheep  business  are  briefly  these:     Up  to  this  time  the 
sheep  of  the  world  have  been  kept  on  the  new  lands,  where 
they  could  go  into  the  sheep  business  without  preparation,  and 
because  in  many  cases  they  would  produce  and  carry  nothing   World  Scare- 
hut  sheep.     That  has  been  the  case  in  our  western  states,  Aus-  ity  of  Sheep 
tralia.  South  America  and  Africa  and  other  countries.     In  those   ond  Wool 
areas,  however,  those  conditions  have  passed.      Those    grazing 
lands  are  being  used  for  other  purposes.     Ultimately,  no  doubt, 
they  will  carry  larger  numbers  of  cattle  and  sheep  than  they 
carried  when  used  for  pasture  purposes.    In  the  meantime,  there 
is  a  very  serious  shortage  of  sheep  meat  and  wool  the  world  over. 

Those  conditions  are  disappearing  and,  as  a  consequence,  the 
prices  of  sheep  products,  especially,  have  gone  up.  We  face 
today  a  condition  where  lan^bs  are  worth  15  cents  a  pound  on 
the  hoof.  When  you  consider  it  is  a  safe  proposition  to  put  a 
lamb  on  the  market  at  70  pounds,  you  will  understand  some- 
thing of  its  possibilities.  At  the  same  time  it  is  hard  to  say, 
without  having  seen  the*  market  reports  of  the  hour,  what  the 
prices  of  wool  are.  They  are  very  high,  but  largely  because  of 
conditions  that  were  in  evidence  before  and  will  exist  after  the 
war. 

This  passing  of  the  pasturage  parts  of  the  country  has 
been  particularly  noticeable  in  our  western  states  during  the  last 
three  or  four  years,  and  is  going  further.  We  still  have  in  the 
public  domain,  as  stated  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office, 
something  like  280  or  290  million  acres  of  land  which  has  been 
used  by  the  stockmen  of  this  country  for  both  sheep  and  cattle 
grazing;  and  as  to  a  comparison  of  the  possibilities  between  sheep 
and  cattle  let  me  make  this  statement :  that  with  present  values 
and  circumstances,  and  the  adaptability  of  the  country,  it  is  a 


198 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  (Constructive  Era 


America  Im- 
porting Vast 
Quantities  of 
Wool 


Cut-Over 
Lands  Ideal 
For  Sheep 
liaising 


pretty  narrow  choice,  and  it  is  mainly  a  matter  of  taste  as  to 
whether  the  man  takes  sheep  or  cattle  for  pasturage. 

Those  lands  are  being  taken  up  very  rapidly,  and  during  the 
last  few  months,  especially,  there  have  been  something  like  45,r 

000  applications  for  those  grazing  homesteads.  It  is  altogether 
probable  that  ultimately  again  a  large  part  of  those  lands  will 
carry  more  stock  than  they  have  now ;  but  I  do  believe  it  is 
more  certain  that  for  a  considerable  time  they  will  carry  much 
less  stock — thev  will  ship  eastward  much  less  cattle  and  wool 
than  for  some  time  past.  Taking  in  connection  with  that  fact  the 
further  fact  that  other  countries  are  in  the  same  position  ;  and 
still  further  the  fact  that  this  country  manufactured,  during  the 
year  ending  June  30th  last,  over  800  million  pounds  of  wool. 
While  we  manufactured  that  we  grew  less  than  300  million 
pounds.  The  rest  came  from  the  countries  mentioned.  The 
consumption  in  other  countries  is  increasing;  the  production  is 
decreasing;  and  we  are  up  against  a  serious  proposition.  There 
is  room  to  dilate  as  much  as  one  may  wish  upon  the  patriotic 
phase  of  the  question ;  but  I  submit  it  to  you  only  as  a  business 
proposition,  to  help  meet  the  demand  for  an  increase  of  the  sheep 
population  somewhere  in  this  country. 

The  cut-over  lands  of  Michigan,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin 
are  well  adapted  to  put  sheep  on  them.  This  increase  of  lambs 
and  wool,  which  must  be  had.  can  gnly  come  from  two  sources. 
The  one  we  have  been  thinking  of  most  heretofore  is  that  of  the 
farms  of  both  this  country  and  other  countries.  The  sheep  busi- 
ness will  increase  very  materially  there,  but  it  will  be  a  slow 
increase  and  it  will  have  to  be  along  lines  yet  to  be  worked  out. 
Outside  of  the  countries  not  ready  for  the  business.  I  do  not 
believe  there  is  any  section  which  is  so  ready  to  go  quickly  into 
a  considerable  wool  or  lamb  proposition  as  the  cut-over  lands. 
With  the  opportunities  you  have,  of  relatively  low  production, 

1  only  wish  to  submit  to  you  that  the  sheep  business,  for  those 
who  will  understand  it  and  study  it  from  a  business  standpoint, 
is  thoroughly  safe  and  practicable. 

I  am  not  going  to  renew,  or  take  part,  in  any  debate  as  to 
just  how  you  will  get  the  information  other  than  to  say  that  if 
anything  has  been  done  by  disinterested  parties  in  this  part  of  the 
country  to  show  the  possibilities  of  keeping  sheep,  I  very  much 
regret  to  say  that  it  has  not  come  to  my  attention.     The  nearest 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  199 

we  can  come  to  getting  a  line  on  it  or  a  parallel  case  is  found 
in  New  Zealand.  That  is  too  far  away  to  interest  you  fully,  but 
I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is  in  New 
Zealand  a  set  of  conditions  that  compares  closely  with  those  of 
the  cut-over  lands.  The  soil  compares  very  closely  in  kind  and 
the  climate  and  rainfall  are  the  same.  Through  the  pressure 
of  circumstances  those  people  residing  in  that  country  have 
taken  up  the  live  stock  proposition  and  provided  pastures  that 
will  support  live  stock  all  through  the  year.  Where  they  have 
worked  that  pasture  proposition  out  and  studied  the  live  stock 
business,  they  have  found  that  their  lands  were  paying  dividends 
on  their  valuation  equivalent  to  $200  an  acre.  Only  there,  that 
I  know  of,  can  you  go  to  find  a  demonstrated  proposition  as  to 
sheep  raising,  that  will  show  you  the  actual  net  expense  and 
possible  receipts  on  an  acre  of  pasture ;  and  you  must  also  con- 
sider that  in  building  up  that  system  they  have  been  under  the 
handicap  of  marketing  their  product  five  thousand  miles  away. 

Just  to  what  extent  and  in  what  way  the  sheep  proposition 
can  be  taken  up,  I  am  not  ready  to  state  in  any  detail  as  yet.    It 
will   have  to  follow  the  same  general  lines  I   have  mentioned. 
First,  however,  as  with  cattle,  the  natural  or  .artificial  pasture  is 
the  primary  consideration.     The  sheep  differ  particularly  from   Sheep  Thrive 
the  cattle  in  this  way,  that  a  good  marketable  carcass  of  lamb  can    Without 
be  raised   under  pasture   conditions    without    the    use    of    any   "^^'"  Food 
material  amount  of  grain.     It  is  possible  to  produce  a  useful  and 
salable  carcass  of  lamb  without  grain  at  all.     Grain  is  not  essen- 
tial to  the  production  of  wool,  so  that  with  sheep  you  can  have 
two  finished  products  from  pasture  alone. 

Sheep  will  not  thrive  under  conditions  where  their  feet  are 
continually  wet.  If  it  is  continually  wet  or  swampy,  you  will 
have  trouble.  They  will  eat  a  greater  variety  of  plants  than 
cattle,  but  if  your  main  object  is  to  clean  up  brush  you  can  do 
it  with  goats  and  you  will  have  a  very  satisfactory  job. 

Getting  down  to  the  possible  advantages  of  sheep  in  com- 
parison with  cattle  on  this  land,  you  have  to  consider  that  the 
tick  proposition  is  not  serious  with  sheep.  The  authorities  have 
stated  that  the  sheep  are  in  no  way  concerned  with  tick.  While 
sheep  have  no  ticks,  however,  they  have  their  own  peculiar 
troubles,  which  are  less  serious  in  some  ways  and  can  be  avoided. 
The  main  factor  in  the  trouble  of  sheep  health  is  that  which  con- 
cerns itself  with  stomach  parasites.     There  are  thoroughly  prac- 


200 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Combining 
Sheep  and 


tical  systems  of  controlling  and  preventing"  the  troubles  from  that 
source.  One  of  the  systems  is  to  give  sheep  a  sufficiently  wide 
range.  Another  way  is  to  use  the  sheep  on  pastures  while  the 
cattle  are  not  there.  I  said  I  would  not  endeavor  to  outline  a 
detailed  system  of  the  proper  methods  of  handling  sheep,  but 
whatever  system  can  be  safely  attempted  early  in  the  game  will 
necessarily  be  somewhat  along  these  lines. 

I  will  say  that  sheep  can  be  used  on  the  same  ground  with 
cattle,  to  the  advantage  of  both.  I  know  some  of  you  that  have 
traveled  in  the  West  and  have  read  the  old-time  stories  have  recol- 
lections of  the  bloodshed  in  those  western  countries  due  to  the 
feuds  between  cattle  and  sheep  men,  and  you  will  find  that  a 
large  proportion  of  them  have  been  over  the  possession  of  the 
Cattle  Raising  ground.  The  solution  of  the  whole  question  has  been  found,  and 
it  is  this :  When  sheep  and  cattle  belong  to  opposite  and  oppos- 
ing owners,  their  sheep  do  hurt  the  pastures;  but  when  the -same 
man  owns  both,  they  get  along  very  well  to  the  advantage  of 
both. 

I  don't  believe  you  are  likely  to  make  a  success  in  the  pre- 
liminary stage  if  you  take  up  sheep  raising  as  a  side  line.  It 
can  be  done  with  "small  units,  but  not  with  the  size  of  pastures 
you  are  operating  with.  Sheep  are  peculiar  to  people  who  have 
never  studied  them ;  but  there  is  nothing  about  their  health, 
management  or  breeding  that  intelligent  study  cannot  master. 
Outside  of  the  fencing  proposition  and  alternating  with  cattle, 
I  think  the  system  that  has  the  most  immediate  possibilities  is 
that  of  the  straight  western  janching  proposition ;  and  I  believe 
that  some  of  the  men  being  crowded  out  of  their  holdings  in 
Wyoming  and  Montana  could  be  interested  in  these  lands  to  the 
extent  of  making  a  fair  try  of  the  proposition.  If  you  will  do 
as  those  men  do  you  will  need  a  unit  of  a  thousand  ewes,  and 
possibly  up  to  1,500,  but  hardly  less  than  a  thousand,  with  a 
herder  with  them  day  and  night.  That  helps  to  take  care  of  the 
dog  proposition  and  gives  them  proper  care.  That  western 
herder  is  with  the  band  all  the  time.  He  does  not  stay  in  one 
place  all  the  time,  but  keeps  them  moving  around.  He  works 
them  that  way  and  he  is  on  watch  all  the  time.  By  keeping  them 
on  the  move  the  danger  of  parasitic  infection  is  mainly  avoided. 
Of  course,  that  involves  some  expense ;  and  the  kind  of  business 
that  calls  for  it  is  one  which  keeps  sheep  both  for  lambs  and 
wool.     That  plan   may   seem   at   first  to  contrast  rather  poorly 


Ranchmen, 
Crowded  in 
West,  Now 
Ready  to 
Come  South 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  201 

with  existing  Southern  flocks  having  anywhere  from  eight  to 
twenty  thousand  ewes  with  a  big  loss  every  year,  and  represent- 
ing a  vahie  of  perhaps  $3.00  each  with  an  income  of  $1.00;  but 
with  more  improved  sheep  to  produce  lambs  marketable  at  an 
early  age  as  well  as  wool,  even  with  the  extra  expense  of  herd- 
ing and  attendance  at  lambing  time  the  net  results  are  much  in 
favor  of  the  latter  plan. 


Possibilities  of  Cut-Over 
Lands 

By  J.  A.  Evans 

Assistant  Chief,  States  Relation  Service,  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  been  convinced  for  some  time  that  this 
meeting  is  already  "fed  up"  on  farming  talk,  and  I  am  therefore 
going  to  take  the  liberty  of  talking  to  you  for  a  very  few  minutes 
about  some  other  phases  of  the  cut-over  land  problem  that  have 
suggested  themselves  to  me  during  the  course  of  this  evening. 

I  have  been  interested  in  the  cut-over  land  problem  for  many 
years.  For  more  than  thirteen  years  I  have  been  connected  with 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  what  has  been  known  as  farm 
demonstration  work  in  Texas,  Arkansas,  Louisiana  and  other 
Southern  states,  and  much  of  our  work  has  been  in  the  cut-over 
land  sections.  I  yield  to  no  man  in  my  belief  in  their  possibili- 
ties. It  should  be  stated,  perhaps,  that  there  are  now  in  the 
fifteen  Southern  states  more  than  seven  hundred  men  engaged  in 
farm  demonstration  work,  a  large  proportion  of  them  working 
directly  on  cut-over  lands.  These  agents  are  engaged  in  helping 
farmers  to  make  their  farms  more  productive  and  profitable  by 
demonstrating  the  actual  practice  of  better  methods  and  the  ap- 
plication of  scientific  principles  to  the  farm,  and  keeping  records 
of  the  results  obtained. 

In  preparation  for  this  meeting  I  addressed  letters  to  more 
than  one  hundred  of  these  special  men  in  cut-over  land  sections 
and  secured  from  them  records  of  actual  results  on  such  lands 


202  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

and  information  on  various  subjects  affecting  their  beneficial  use. 
It  has  been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again  on  every  type  of 
soil  in  this  region  that  these  cut-over  lands  can  be  made  very  pro- 
ductive.   On  thousands  of  demonstration  farms  with  all  the  staple 
Phenomenal      crops,  yields  running  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  per  cent  over  and 
Yields  on  Cut-  above  the  average  of  the  state  have  been  secured.    Yields  of  from 
Over  Lands       twenty-five  to  thirty  bushels  of  corn  have  been  usual  on  such 
lands,   but   many   phenomenal   yields    running   as    high    as    two 
hundred  bushels  per  acre  have  been  secured.     In  cotton  we  have 
produced  from  one-half  bale  to  two  bales  per  acre,  and  similar 
results  with  every  standard  crop  have  been  secured. 

(In  view  of  such  results,  absolutely  proving  the  great  possi- 
bilities of  these  soils,  the  question  asked  by  your  chairman  at  the 
beginning  of  this  meeting  is  pertinent.  What  is  the  reason  these 
lands  remain  unsettled  and  are  apparently  so  unattractive  to  the 
average  investor?  I  am  a  Southern  man,  and  I  believe — yes, 
know — cut-over  lands  of  the  South  are  destined  some  day  to  pro- 
vide homes  for  a  great  multitude  of  happy,  independent,  and 
prosperous  farmers.  But  here  is  the  situation.  With  things  as 
they  are,  not  one  man  in  ten — and  many  careful  observers  with 
long  experience  in  cut-over  land  sections  say  one  in  twenty-five 
- — have  any  possible  chance  to  go  onto  these  cut-over  lands,  buy 
them,  pay  for  them,  and  establish  a  home  unless  he  has  ample 
resources  or  some  outside  means  of  subsistence,  particularly  for 
the  first  two  or  three  years.  It  can't  be  done.  A  gentleman  in  the 
Settler  Must  meeting  this  morning  stated — and  it  is  a  well  known  fact — that  it 
Be  Adequate-  -^^g  usually  the  third  purchaser  that  was  able  to  stay  on  any  par- 
//;  Financed  ^icular  piece  of  land,  and  he  considered  this  as  an  unavoidable 
condition.  What  makes  it  necessary?  Simply  this:  these  people 
have  been  brought  to  the  South  under  almost  fraudulent  repre- 
sentations of  what  they  could  do  on  these  lands  with  little  capi- 
tal. Inspired  by  the  glowing  pictures  painted  by  land  promoters 
and  sellers,  clerks,  stenographers,  school  teachers,  preachers  and 
people  engaged  in  other  occupations — not  farmers — have  been 
tempted  to  invest  their  little  savings  and  come  South  in  the  be- 
lief that  from  a  few  acres  they  could  wrest  an  immediate  living 
and  future  independence.  Practically  all  their  money  is  taken 
from  them  as  a  cash  payment,  and  the  little  left  is  used  up  in 
moving  to  their  possessions.  To  go  on  cut-over  land  without 
capital  or  without  outside  help  or  assistance  to  try  to  make  a 
living  is  a  hopeless  task.  They  fail ;  they  are  bound  to  fail,  and 
then  they  go  home  and  "cuss"  the  country. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  203 

After  two  or  three  have  thus  sunk  their  little  "wads"  the  third 

or  fourth  man  comes  alons:,  and,  building-  on  the  foundation  laid    .      o         n    * 

*"  '  *=  .  for  Some  Past 

by  the  loss  of  capital  of  the  others  who  preceded  him,  he  may  be   Failures  and 

able  to  stick  and  make  a  living,  and  if  so,  by  and  by,  he  develops  Successes 
a  good  farm  and  becomes  a  successful,  prosperous  man,  because 
the  possibilities  are  there.  I  could  take  you  into  any  cut-over  land 
section  and  show  you  men  who  have  made  a  success  on  these 
lands — show  you  substantial  and  prosperous  farmers  having 
farms  worth  from  $50  to  $100  an  acre,  some  perhaps  who  would 
not  take  $100  an  acre  for  their  farms — built  up  from  these  cut- 
over  lands.  But  they  purchased  these  lands  for  something  like 
what  they  were  worth  and  on  long  credit.  They  paid,  perhaps, 
$2  or  $3 — ^or  at  most  $4  or  $5 — an  acre  and  while  developing  the 
farms  had  work  in  the  sawmills  adjoining  so  that  they  were  en- 
abled to  support  their  families,  and  they  and  their  families  worked 
mornings,  nights  and  holidays  in  clearing  and  in  otherwise  de- 
veloping their  land.  In  this  way,  after  a  few  years  their  farms 
were  gotten  into  shape  where  they  began  to  produce  well  and  ^^^n  ^y/^^/  gg 
be  real  farms.  But  a  settler  today  on  cut-over  land  hasn't,  as  a  nuilt  Up 
rule,  the  same  chance.  The  opportunities  for  outside  labor  at  re- 
munerative prices  are  not  frequent  and  for  the  most  part  the  men 
who  purchase  cut-over  lands  toda}^  have  to  depend  on  the  land 
itself  or  on  surplus  capital  for  a  living  from  the  start. 

Now  you  can't,  as  a  rule,  start  on  cut-over  land  without  capi- 
tal or  without  outside  employment  or  help  of  some  sort,  and 
make  a  living  on  it  for  the  first  year  or  two.  Why  ?  I'ecause  as 
has  been  told  you — and  it  is  the  truth — these  lands  are  naturally 
poor,  some  more  so  than  others.  They  will  grade  from  fair  to 
poor  but  practically  all  of  them  are  deficient  in  the  three  things 
that  are  essential  for  a  fertile  soil,  that  is,  humus,  or  vegetable 
matter,  phosphorous  and  nitrogen.  In  addition  to  this  the 
mechanical  condition  of  the  soil  is  generally  bad,  so  that  it  takes 
careful  farming  with  proper  rotation  of  crops  and  the  use  of 
legumes  to  build  them  up  and  it  is  not  until  after  two  or  three 
years  of  this  kind  of  handling  that  they  begin  to  produce  well. 

As  an  offset  to  these  disadvantages,  on  the  other  hand,  is  our 
wonderful  climate,  good  seasons,  the  great  variety  of  crops  we 
can  grow,  including  legumes  or  soil  building  crops,  and  the  re- 
sponsiveness of  most  of  these  soils  to  right  treatment,  the  rapidity 
with  which  they  can  be  built  up  and  made  fertile.  You  take  these 
cut-over  pine  lands,  particularly  those  soils  with  a  deep  red  clay 


204 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Cut-Over 
Lands  Poten- 
tially Finest 
in  the  World 


Method  of 

Colonization 

Suggested 


subsoil  and  sandy  loam  top  soil,  and  I  stand  here  to  affirm  that 
there  is  not  potentially  a  finer  soil  on  earth,  one  more  capable  of 
being  made  to  produce  abundantly — but  it  takes  time,  money  and 
much  labor  to  put  it  into  condition  to  do  so. 

I  firmly  believe,  however,  that  it  is  feasible  to  colonize  the 
cut-over  land  of  agricultural  value.  There  has  never  been  a 
time  when  so  many  people  were  looking  with  longing  eyes 
toward  the  South.  Thousands  of  letters  are  received  at  the  De- 
partment annually  from  all  parts  of  the  world  inquiring  about 
different  sections  of  the  South  and  many  of  them  making  spe- 
cific inquiries  regarding  colonization  projects  in  the  cut-over 
land  sections.  As  the  majority  of  these  letters  find  their  way  to 
my  desk,  I  have  endeavored  for  years  to  keep  in  touch  with 
such  developments  in  this  section.  Wherever  I  have  seen  ad- 
vertisements of  colonization  projects  I  have  written  for  their 
literature.  I  have  carefully  noted  such  advertisements  in  all  the 
agricultural  papers  and  in  other  ways  have  tried  to  be  in  position 
to  give  intelligent  advice  to  such  inquirers.  I  am  sorry  to  have 
to  say  that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  my  conscience  would 
not  permit  me  to  recommend  such  projects  to  intending  pur- 
chasers. Most  of  them,  as  shown  by  their  letters,  were  people 
of  small  means  who  were  dreaming  about  building  a  home  in 
the  South  and  expecting  to  invest  the  savings  of  a  lifetime  in 
the  undertaking.  Notwithstanding  my  interest  in  this  section 
of  the  South,  I  have  felt  compelled,  as  a  rule,  to  advise  against 
the  investments  contemplated,  and  I  shall  continue  to  follow  this 
course  as  long  as  conditions  surrounding  the  average  coloniza- 
tion scheme  remain  as  they  are. 

What,  then,  should  be  done  to  make  this  section  attractive 
to  homeseekers  and  to  render  it  possible  for  the  man  with  small 
means  to  succeed? 

First — The  owners  of  this  vast  domain  should  themselves 
undertake  the  handling  and  disposition  of  it.  As  a  preliminary 
step  the  land  should  be  surveyed  and  classified  into  agricultural 
and  non-agricultural  lands. 

Second — Then  you  should  put  a  reasonable  price  upon  it — 
a  low  price — get  down  to  bedrock.  It  is  unreasonable  to  expect 
to  sell  such  lands  at  the  prices  which  have  been  asked,  as  a  rule, 
by  the  colonizers  and  promoters,  prices  ranging  anywhere  from 
$20  to  $40  per  acre.     Consider  for  a  moment  what  the  purchaser 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  205 

of  these  lands  for  farming  purposes  is  up  against.  The  original 
price  of  the  land  is  only  a  small  part  of  his  necessary  expenses 
in  building  a  home.  To  grub  and  clear  the  land  ready  for  the 
plow  without  removing  the  stumps  will  cost  him  anywhere  from 
$7  to  $10  an  acre ;  fencing,  $5  or  $6  an  acre ;  necessary  buildings, 
even  of  the  most  modest  sort,  from  $5  to  $10  an  acre,  and  then, 
if  he  is  to  have  a  real  farm,  the  stumps  must  be  removed  so 
that  he  can  use  improved  machinery,  and  this  entails  an  addi- 
tional expense  of  anywhere  from  $10  to  $25  an  acre,  depending 
upon  the  character  and  number  of  the  stumps  to  be  removed. 
And,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  one  or  two  years'  cultivation  is 
necessary  before  the  land  can  be  brought  to  a  fairly  productive 
state.  You  can  afford  to  sell  these  lands  at  a  reasonable  price. 
They  were  purchased  for  the  most  part  with  the  timber  stand-  ... 

ing  at  from  73  cents  to  $3  or  $4  an  acre.  They  are  carried  on 
the  tax  rolls  of  the  various  states  today  at  from  $1  to  $2  an 
acre.  Personally  I  do  not  believe  that  any  of  the  cut-over  pine 
land  in  its  natural  state  is  worth  for  agricultural  purposes  more 
than  $10  per  acre,  and  the  greater  part  of  it  is  not  worth  that. 

Third — It  must  be  sold  on  long  time  and  easy  terms  with  Sell  on  Long 
practically  no  cash  payment  down  or  for  the  first  two  or  three  Time  and 
years.  These  lands  will  not,  as  a  rule,  attract  the  man  with  ^^^V  ^^^n^- 
money.  They  cannot  compete  with  the  prairie  lands  and  im- 
proved farm  lands  in  that  market.  Your  purchasers  will  be,  as 
in  the  past,  people  of  small  means  who  are  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing for  homes,  but  have  not  sufficient  capital  to  buy  improved 
farm  lands.  They  must  be  sold  on  such  terms  that  practically 
their  entire  capital  can  be  devoted  to  improving  the  land  and 
getting  it  into  a  productive  state  before  much  of  a  payment  is 
required  of  them.  And  then  when  you  have  got  them  on  the 
land  you  must  be  prepared  to  give  them  help  financially  and 
otherwise.  You  should  work  out  some  system  by  which,  if 
necessary,  you  can  loan  them  money  for  buildings,  for  fencing. 
It  may  be  necessary  and  advisable  to  loan  them  money  to  pur- 
chase equipment,  particularly  a  cow  or  two,  a  brood  sow  or  two, 
and  other  live  stock,  and  for  seed  and  fertilizer.  Once  a  man  is 
located  on  your  land  you  must  do  everything  possible  to  see  to 
it  that  he  succeeds,  for  each  success  will  bring  you  many  addi- 
tional purchasers,  but  each  failure  will  turn  many  prospective 
purchasers  away.  You  may  possibly  find  it  advantageous  to 
clear  up  large  quantities  of  land  and  get  them  ready  for  culti- 


206 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era 


Stumps  as  a 
Valuable  By- 
product 


Government 
Will  Co-oper- 
ate  with   Set- 
tler 


vation  before  putting  them  on  the  market.    This  is  a  proposition 
which  is  entitled  to  careful  consideration. 

I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Alexander 
regarding  the  utilization  of  the  stumps  and  the  value  of  the 
by-products  which  might  be  secured  therefrom.  This  is  a  mat- 
ter which  should  be  very  fully  investigated.  If,  in  fact,  there  is 
twenty-five  dollars'  worth  of  by-products  in  each  acre  of  stumps, 
it  would  be  a  sin  and  a  crime  not  to  utilize  them.  It  may  be 
that  the  inability  to  settle  these  lands  heretofore  has  been  provi- 
dential in  order  that  this  vast  wealth  which  otherwise  would 
have  been  wasted  may  be  conserved.  I  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  some  photographs  which  were  shown  me  today  by  Mr. 
Redhead,  our  Assistant  State  Agent  in  Louisiana.  He  tells  me 
that  in  Tangipahoa  Parish  there  is  a  man  who  at  the  cost  of 
$300  has  erected  furnaces  and  is  converting  his  stumps  into 
various  by-products.  He  has  found  that  he  can  pay  all  expenses 
of  removing  the  stumps  and  realize  a  profit  at  present  prices  of 
$10  to  $15  an  acre.  It  would  seem  feasible,  then,  for  companies 
owning  large  tracts  of  land  to  either  build  plants  and  remove 
the  stumps  themselves  or  finance  settlers  in  building  these  small 
plants  in  order  that  they  might  from  the  by-products  of  the 
stumps  not  only  pay  the  expenses  of  clearing  their  land,  but  get 
an  income  sufficient  to  support  their  families  until  the  farm  is 
put  into  condition  to  begin  to  return  a  revenue. 

You  must  also  make  some  provision  to  see  that  they  are 
given  the  right  kind  of  advice  and  instruction.  Even  good 
farmers  from  the  North  make  serious  mistakes  and  frequent 
failures  when  they  come  South  because  conditions  are  so  differ- 
ent. The  one  thing  I  am  always  careful  to  advise  people  from 
the  North  to  do  in  coming  South,  is  to  get  in  touch  with  the 
county  demonstration  agents  and  be  guided  by  their  advice  as 
to  what  and  how  to  plant  and  how  to  cultivate  and  handle  the 
crop.  Provision  for  safe,  conservative  advice  along  this  line  will 
be  doubly  important  to  settlers  on  cut-over  land  because  the 
majority  of  them  will  have  little  previous  farm  experience. 

Here  is  where  the  Department  of  Agriculture  stands  ready 
to  co-operate  with  you.  Thanks  to  the  Smith-Lever  bill,  the 
Government  and  the  colleges  are  now  prepared  to  extend  aid 
to  new  settlers  on  cut-over  lands  as  never  before.  They  will 
shortly  have  trained,  skilled  agriculturists  in  every  county,  and 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  207 

in  most  of  the  counties  beside,  a  trained  home  economics  agent 
who  will  be  ready  and  willing  to  aid  new  settlers.  If  you  will 
can  settle  upon  your  lands  with  a  reasonable  show  of  being  able 
simply  do  your  part  and  make  conditions  such  that  homeseekers 
to  succeed,  we  will  help  them  to  do  the  rest. 

The  Cut-Over  Acre — What 
Is  It  Worth? 

By  William  R.  Lighton 

Fayetteville,  Ark. 

Producing  power  is  the  only  real  measure  of  value  of  an}' 
source  of  wealth,  whether  it  be  a  railway,  a  manufacturing  in- 
dustry, a  mine,  or  an  acre  of  agricultural  land.  So,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  we  must  know  producing  power  before  we  can  judge  of 
value. 

Standard  oil  stock,  steel  stock,  the  soundest  industrial  stocks 
on  the  list,  would  be  going  a-begging  if  nobody  had  ever  taken 
the  trouble  to  find  out  anything  about  their  earning  capacity. 
That,  and  that  alone,  fixes  their  worth. 

By  the  same  token,  the  largest^  single  item  in  the  wealth  of 
the  Southern  states,  their  undeveloped  land,  hangs  heavy  and 
remains  undeveloped  simply  because  there  is  no  general  and  ac- 
curate understanding  of  what  it  is  able  to  do.     Today,  for  just 
this  reason,  we  are  talking  about  the  future  use  of  this  land  as  a 
problem.    So  it  is ;  but  the  problem  does  not  lie  in  the  character 
of  the  land  itself.    The  trouble  lies  in  the  poverty  of  our  knowl- 
edge.    If  the  plain  facts  were  known,  then  there  would  be  no    Value  of  Cui- 
problem  at  all.     How  could  there  be,  in  a  time  when  the  re-   Over  Lands 
motest  corners  of  the  continent  have  been  searched  for  new  lands      '   ^     noivn 
which  might  be  made  fruitful    even    with    vast    expenditure  of   Elated 
money  and  labor;  in  a  time  when  far-off  deserts  have  been  pain- 
fully reclaimed,  when  the  forbidding  semi-arid  regions  have  been 
peopled,  and  when  the  ceaseless  cry  of  the  world  is  for  a  supply 
of  food  to  keep  pace  with  increasing  needs?    Yet  here  are  these 
lands  of  ours,  countless  millions  of  acres,  not  unproductive,  but 
their  productive  capacity  a  matter  of  blind  guess-work  in  the 
minds  of  most  of  us. 


208  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

Well,  what  are  the  facts?  It  will  not  do  to  say,  in  a  loose, 
free-and-easy  way,  that  the  lands  of  the  South  are  as  fertile  as 
any  in  the  world.  There  has  been  too  much  of  that  sort  of  talk. 
What  we  want  now  is  exactness. 

But  exactness  of  statement  of  the  facts  is  very  difificult.  It 
may  interest  you  to  know  that  it  has  taken  many  days  of  hard, 
patient  digging  in  dry  masses  of  census  tables  to  gather  the  few 
plain  figures  I  am  presenting  to  you.  It  has  not  been  possible  to 
find  them  elsewhere. 

Note  that  in  this  comparative  statement  I  am  not  dealing 
with  exceptional  conditions  or  unusual  cases.  I  am  giving  aver- 
age figures  for  whole  states  over  a  ten-year  period. 

For  the  ten  years  from  1900  to  1909,  inclusive,  the  state  of 

Arkansas  showed  a  greater  average  value  per  acre  of  staple  farm 

'^        r      J         crops  than  was  shown  by  the  richest  states  of  the  great  corn  belt. 
Over  Lands  ^  /  ,        •       a    i 

Out-Produce      ^^^  those  ten   years  that  average  crop-value  m  Arkansas  was 

the  Rich  Corn  $22.04  per  acre.     Mind  you,  this  does  not  include  cotton,  rice, 

R^lt  sugar,  fruit  or  truck  crops,  but  only  grain,  potatoes,   hay   and 

forage  common  to  the  whole  Mississippi  Valley. 

For  the  same  period,  Illinois  showed  an  average  value  per 
acre  for  the  same  products  of  $17.24.  In  Iowa  the  average  pro- 
duction per  acre  was  $14.52;  in  Indiana,  $16.35;  in  Ohio,  $17.62; 
in  Missouri,  $13.54. 

This  production  in  Illinois  represented  a  gross  return  of  18.1 
per  cent  on  the  average  value  of  farm  lands.  In  Iowa  the  re- 
turn was  17.5  per  cent;  in  Arkansas  it  was  157.4  per  cent.  That 
is  to  say,  Arkansas  land  with  an  average  valuation  of  only  $14  an 
acre  yielded  half  again  as  much  as  the  Iowa  acre  whose  average 
valuation  was  $83.00. 

What  gave  the  Iowa  acre  this  greater  ^•aIuation?  Not  its  bet- 
ter production,  as  these  figures  show.  Not  its  more  favorable 
location,  for  Des  Moines  and  Little  Rock  lie  at  almost  exactly 
the  same  distance  from  the  national  center  of  population,  which 
is  approximately  the  center  of  consumption  of  farm  products. 
Not  better  transportation  facilities,  for  Arkansas  products  reach 
the  great  consuming  markets  as  directly  as  those  of  Iowa.  In- 
deed, the  odds  are  rather  in  favor  of  Arkansas  in  the  matter  of 
access  to  markets. 

There  is  only  one  true  explanation  of  the  higher  level  of  Iowa 
land  values.     The  facts  as  to  the  producing  power  of  the  Iowa 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  209 

acre  are  advertised  and  thoroughly  known ;  the  facts  as  to  Ar-  loi^a  Piofit- 

kansas  are  unadvertised  and  wholly  unknown.    The  valuation  of  ing  by  Intelli- 

the  Iowa  acre  is  living  tribute  to  the  importance  of  intelligent  5'^"^  Advertis- 

publicity.  '"^ 

The  time  is  coming  inevitably  when  the  neglected  lands  of 
the  South,  and  not  the  lands  of  the  Corn  Belt,  will  be  the  center 
of  production  of  the  staple  foodstuffs.  Why?  Because  acre- 
production  in  the  South  is  greater  and  production-cost  almost 
incomparably  less. 

The  good  Iowa  acre  produces  in  a  season  only  500  pounds  of 
pork,  at  a  cost  of  4  to  5  cents  a  pound.  The  Arkansas  acre,  in  the 
longer  season  of  the  South,  produces  1,000  pounds  of  pork  at  a 
cost  of  2  to  23^  cents  a  pound.  The  Arkansas  Experiment  Sta- 
tion has  produced  1,252  pounds  per  acre  at  a  cost  of  134  cents. 
On  my  own  farm  in  the  highlands  of  Northwest  Arkansas  the 
average  production-cost  of  Irish  potatoes  is  from  10  to  12  cents 
a  bushel.  An  acre  of  well-established  southern  Bermuda  grass 
pasture  will  carry  six  head  of  grazing  cattle  over  a  period  of  6  to 
8  months,  whereas  in  Iowa  an  acre  of  pasture  will  hardly  carry 
one  grazing  animal  through  the  shortest  summer  season. 

These  are  suggestive  and  typical  items.  I  wish  I  had  time  for 
dwelling  more  fully  upon  the  comparison. 

The  key  to  the  solution  of  this  cut-over  land  problem  is  a 
consistent  campaign  of  the  right  sort  of  publicity — not  for  the 
fact  that  low  land-prices  offer  the  speculator  a  stunning  oppor- 
tunity, but  for  the  bigger  fact  of  producing  power.  Let  that 
power  become  known,  and  settlement  and  development  will  fol- 
low with  absolute  certainty. 

About  the  worst  thing  that  might  happen  to  the  South  would 
be  to  have  the  exploitation  of  these  lands  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  speculator  or  the  professional  promoter.  The  best  thing  that 
might  happen  would  be  the  beginning  of  intelligent  publicity  of 
the  sort  which  will  make  its  appeal  to  farmers  rather  than  to  mere  South  Should 
adventurers.  With  such  publicity  we  shall  open  a  plain,  straight  Make  Its 
way  for  the  soundest  of  all  development,  a  development  which  Advantages 
will  be  free  of  all  the  insanity  of  "booming,"  a  development  which 
will  with  absolute  certainty  convert  this  burden  of  millions  of 
acres  of  unused  land  into  a  producing  asset  of  incalculable  worth. 
In  such  publicity  I  see  the  South's  chief  hope  for  a  future  whose 
soundness  will  be  impregnable. 


Known 


210 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Con.striictiue  Era 


Early  History 
of  the  Sheep 
Industry  in 
America 


The  Herds- 
man Moves 
Westward 


Shortage  of  Raw  Material — 
the  Demand  Increasing 

By  A.  C.  Bigelow 

President,  Philadelphia  Wool  and  Textile 
Association 

Gentlemen,  I  want  to  express  to  you  my  appreciation  of  the 
honor  of  having  been  invited  to  come  here  and  address  this  meet- 
ing. I  have  come  1,500  miles  for  that  purpose;  and  I  think  you 
will  understand  that  I  should  not  have  made  such  a  long  journey 
down  here  if  I  had  not  been  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
this  gathering  and  the  importance  of  that  which  I  wish  to  present 
to  you  in  regard  to  the  agricultural  proposition,  especially  sheep 
husbandry. 

It  is  probably  worth  while  to  explain  to  you  briefly  the  de- 
velopment of  the  sheep  industry  in  this  country.  As  you  will 
readily  understand,  it  was  natural  that  it  should  start  in  the 
Eastern  states,  as  the  original  Merino  sheep  came  mostly  to  us 
from  Spain  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  The  New  Eng- 
land states  in  the  early  days  showed  quite  a  rapid  development, 
and  Vermont  was  at  one  time  a  large  sheep  producing  state.  In 
that  state  the  number  of  sheep  were  as  follows : 


Vermont — 

Year 

No.  of  Sheep 

• 

1840 

1,681,819 

1860 

752,201 

1880 

439,870 

1915 

47,416 

Following  the  advance  westward  of  population,  sheep  were 
largely  kept  in  New  York  State,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  Dur- 
ing the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1880,  there  were  close  to  5,000,000 
sheep  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  In  1890  the  number  dropped  to  4.- 
000,000,  while  in  1915  they  were  reduced  to  2.100,000.  Still  ad- 
vancing westward,  and  following  the  areas  of  cheaper  lands,  we 
find  that  Texas  had  as  follows : 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


211 


Texas — 

Year 

No.  of  Sheep 

1880 

3,600,000 

1890 

4,260,000 

But  with  the  advance  of  the  farming  element,  restricting  the 
areas  of  cheap  land,  Texas  dropped  in  1915  to  1,600,000  sheep. 
In  California  we  find  as  follows : 


California — 

Year 

No.  of  Sheep 

1880 

5,727,000 

1890 

3.373,000 

1915 

1,900,000 

During  this  early  period  it  should  be  noted  that  sheep  were 
kept  for  the  wool  product  alone.  We  were  educated  as  a  beef- 
eating  people,  and  our  immense  supplies  of  cattle  made  beef 
cheap.  Mutton  at  that  time  was  an  insignificant  factor  in  the 
profit  and  loss  account.  This  situation  has  now  changed  com- 
pletely. The  supply  of  cattle  is  decreasing  so  materially  that 
beef  is  advancing  greatly.  Mutton  and  lamb  have  been  improved 
in  quality,  and  there  is  a  good  demand  for  it  today.  Results  care- 
fully taken  at  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  show  that  the  mut- 
ton product  of  sheep  represents  about  two-thirds,  whilst  wool 
today  represents  about  one-third,  making  wool  a  by-product ;  so 
that  the  market  fluctuations  in  wool,  which  will  always  occur 
to  a  certain  extent,  will  not  have  any  great  effect  on  the  profit 
account  of  the  sheep  industry. 

With  restriction  of  the  cheap  lands  in  Texas  and  California, 
the  bands  of  sheep  were  driven  up  into  the  mountainous  grazing 
limits  of  the  northwestern  section,  and  there  we  find  for  many 
years  a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  sheep,  especially  in  the 
states  of  Wyoming.  Idaho  and  Montana.  But  here,  too,  within 
the  last  few  years,  we  can  find  the  same  cause  operating  a  de- 
crease in  the  flocks — the  homesteader  and  farmer  are  coming  in, 
the  ranges  are  restricted,  and  production  has  decreased.  In  ef- 
fect, the  whole  industry  has  moved  like  a  great  wave,  on  the  lines 
of  least  resistance,  utilizing  cheap  grazing  lands  as  long  as  they 
were  cheap,  and  showing  a  decrease  as  soon  as  they  were  occu- 
pied for  agricultural  purposes. 

The  great  Northwestern  grazing  territory,  comprising  the 
states  of  Montana.  Idaho,  Wyoming  and  Oregon,  containing  vast 
areas  of  free  or  very  cheap  grazing  lands,  has  been   the  great 


Wool,  Once 
Chief  Factor, 
Now  a 
liij-Prodiict 


Western  Graz- 
ing Area 
Constantly 
Dwindling 


212 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Sheep  Raiser 
Looks  to 
South  as  Fu- 
ture Field 


source  of  wool  and  mutton  production  during  the  present  cen- 
tury. These  four  states  in  1916,  out  of  the  total  wool  clip  of  the 
United  States  of  288,000,000  pounds,  produced  86,255,000  pounds, 
or  about  thirty  per  cent. 

There  has  been  during  the  past  seven  years,  however,  a  con- 
tinued shrinkage  in  the  production  from  these  four  states,  caused 
by  the  overstocking  of  the  ranges.  During  the  session  of  the 
last  Congress  an  Act  was  passed,  opening  up  the  Government 
lands  in  this  section  to  the  farmers  in  tracts  of  640  acres.  We 
sent  a  special  agent  into  this  section,  to  make  a  survey  of  condi- 
tions and  to  locate  breeding  stock ;  and  the  reports  we  have  re- 
ceived from  him  and  from  other  sources,  indicate  that  there  is  a 
great  rush  of  farmers  coming  into  this  section,  taking  up  these 
640-acre  tracts,  and  in  consequence  the  range  is  being  broken  up 
to  such  a  great  extent  that  those  who  have  been  maintaining 
sheep  there  are  being  forced  to  dispose  of  their  flocks,  and  the 
evidence  is  conclusive,  and  our  records  show,  that  there  will  be 
a  decrease  during  the  next  two  years  of  about  thirty  per  cent 
from  this  section.  And,  moreover,  the  evidence  shows  that  there 
will  be  a  continuing  decline  of  production  from  this  section  for 
many  years  to  come.  It  is  quite  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
population  of  the  United  States  will  be  seriously  affected  by  this 
rapid  decline  in  this  great  sheep  territory,  and  there  is  only  one 
source  left  open  now  from  which  we  can  obtain  an  increase  of 
sheep  production,  and  that  is  in  the  farming  sections  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River  and  in  the  unused  land  areas  of  the  South. 

In  all  matters,  political,  social  and  economic,  change  is  the 
law  of  the  universe.  As  in  the  past,  economic  conditions  oper- 
ated to  drive  the  shepherd  of  the  East  our  of  business,  and  to 
develop  the  great  sheep  interests  on  the  western  grazing  lands, 
so  today  again,  economic  conditions  are  forcing  the  western 
flockmaster  out  of  business,  and  opening  up  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity for  the  profitable  maintenance  and  development  of  the 
sheep  industry  in  the  older  sections,  which  have  been  so  long 
neglected. 

We,  of  course,  understand  that  the  abnormal  conditions 
created  by  this  great  war  will  not  continue  indefinitely.  The 
demand  for  the  armies  of  the  warring  nations  is  tremendous,  and 
there  is  a  certain  amount  of  credit  inflation,  which  tends  to  ad- 
vance prices  above  a  normal  level.  It  is  quite  natural  that  the 
question  arises  as  to  what  will  be  the  conditions  as  to  prices 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  213 

when  the  war  ceases.  This  matter  has  received  the  most  careful 
attention,  and  has  been  closely  studied  by  those  who  are  thor- 
oughly competent  to  form  an  opinion,  so  far  as  human  judgment 
can  do  so,  on  this  matter.  The  result  of  consideration  of  this 
indicates  that  whilst  we  must  look  for  some  liquidation,  and 
whilst  it  is  expected  that  prices  will  be  to  a  considerable  extent 
lower  than  they  are  today,  yet  it  is  generally  agreed  that  prices, 
both  for  meat  and  for  wool,  must  be  maintained  for  many  years 
to  come  at  a  very  much  higher  level  than  existed  before  the  war.  High  Sheep 
In  the  ordinary  course  of  clothing  consumption,  a  great  part  of  Prices  to  Con- 
the  clothes  which  have  been  in  use  are  converted  again  into  wool  """^  for 
fibre  in  the  form  of  shoddy,  and  so  used  in  connection  with  pure 
wool  to  produce  woolen  clothes.  This  reserve  supply,  as  it  may 
be  called,  of  wool  fibre,  has  been  to  a  very  large  extent  exhausted 
by  the  destructive  agencies  of  war.  Moreover,  the  great  sheep 
countries  of  the  world  have  been  showing  a  decrease  of  produc- 
tion, and  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  war  in  this  case  has  also  been 
the  means  of  a  much  further  decrease  on  account  of  animals 
being  used  to  provide  food  for  the  soldiers  in  extraordinary  quan- 
tities. 

In  connection  with  what  will  occur  after  the  war,  two  other 
points  must  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  the  evidence  of  this 
is  conclusive.  One  is  that  in  all  the  warring  nations  the  demands 
of  the  army  for  clothing  have  been  so  great  that  the  civil  popu- 
lation has  been  afforded  a  very  inadequate  supply  of  woolen 
clothing,  and  in  consequence,  when  the  war  ceases  there  will  be 
a  tremendous  demand  for  wool  to  re-clothe,  not  only  this  civil 
popu'lation,  which  is  now  non-combatant,  but  to  supply  those 
who  are  now  using  uniforms  with  the  ordinary  clothes  of  the  Tremendous 
civilian.  The  second  point  is  that  the  nations  at  war  will,  on  the  ^f^^^-^J^^ 
cessation  of  hostilities,  be  forced  to  engage  in  the  fiercest  kind  of  w^,,; 
commercial  competition,  to  regain  for  themselves  the  markets  Expected 
which  have  been  lost  during  the  war,  and  to  operate  their  in- 
dustries, in  order  to  obtain  an  income,  from  which  they  may  be 
able  to  pay  off  the  interest  on  the  enormous  debts  which  they 
have  contracted.  And  there  is  further  evidence  that  the  British 
Empire,  controlling,  as  it  does,  two-thirds  of  the  wool  supply  of 
the  world,  will  maintain  for  a  long  period  after  the  war,  a  strict 
control  of  these  wool  supplies,  in  order  that  she  may  conserve 
her  industrial  interests,  of  which  none  other  are  more  important 
to  her  than  those  of  woolen  manufactures.     In  this  connection,  I 


214  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Britain's 
Wool  Supply 
to  be  Kept  at 
Home 


present  to  you  a  short  extract  from  an  address  delivered  in  Lon- 
don by  Mr.  E.  F.  Hitchcock,  one  of  the  officials  of  the  Depart- 
ment which  has  control  of  raw  material  for  the  manufactories 
of  the  British  Empire,  as  follows : 

"The  British  Empire  produces  64  per  cent  of  the  world's  ex- 
portable merino  and  crossbred  wool,  and  the  rest  is  produced  in 
South  America.  Therefore,  you  see  that  the  position  of  the 
British  Empire  so  far  as  wool  is  concerned,  is  a  very  strong 
position  indeed.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  any  raw  material,  ex- 
cept perhaps  rubber,  which  is  of  so  great  importance  as  wool, 
and  of  which  at  the  same  time  the  British  Empire  has  a  virtual 
monopoly  as  it  has  for  wool.  But  the  importance  of  the  British 
Empire  wool  should  not  merely  be  measured  in  terms  of  quan- 
tity, it  has  also  to  be  measured  in  terms  of  quality.  The  very 
finest  merino  wools  most  in  demand  for  very  fine  cloths  are 
grown  in  the  British  Empire.  Australian  merino  wool  is  the 
finest  wool  on  earth.  You  cannot  get  it  elsewhere,  it  is  not 
grown  elsewhere,  in  any  appreciable  quantity  at  all.  Ilie  British 
Empire  controls  80  per  cent  of  the  world's  merino  wool  produc- 
tion. I  hope  later  to  develop  the  enormous  importance  vrhich 
raw  material,  wool  especially,  is  going  to  play  in  the  economic 
struggle  after  the  war. 

Nothing  appears  to  me  so  important  as  the  reservation  for  our 
own  needs  of  all  the  raw  material  that  we  want  after  the  war. 
As  food  is  to  the  individual,  so  is  raw  material  to  industrial  coun- 
tries, and  unless  we  make  quite  sure  that  we  have  sufficient  sup- 
plies, w^e  shall  find  that  our  industrial  development  w\\\  be  very 
seriously  retarded." 

The  situation  which  presents  itself  to  us,  therefore,  on  ac- 
count of  all  which  I  have  brought  to  your  attention,  shows  that 
population  for  a  number  of  years  has  been  encroaching  upon  our 
production  of  food  and  of  raw  material  of  wool  for  clothing.     It 
shows  that  the  conditions  brought  about  by  the   great  war  in 
Sheep  Raising   progress  has  developed  a  world  shortage  of  wool  supplies,  and  it 
as  a  Profitable    shows  that  our  own   domestic  production   in   the   great  North- 
Investment         western  territory  will  develop  a  very  decided  decrease  from  that 
section,  which  has  been  such  an  important  factor  in  our  wool 
production.     It  shows  that  after  the  war  the  demands  in  the 
warring  countries  to  fill  the  needs  of  the  civilian  population  is 
going  to  be  tremendous.     Based  on  all  the  premises,  therefore, 
submitted  regarding  the  extraordinary    market    which    will    be 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era  215 


opened  for  wool  especially,  and  for  the  product  of  meat  which 
our  rapidly  increasing  population  must  have,  it  is  safe  to  as- 
sume that  prices  will  be  maintained  upon  a  very  h.igh  level,  and 
that  the  opportunity  presents  itself  to  those  who  have  lands  suit- 
able for  the  maintenance  of  sheep,  to  engage  in  sheep  husbandry 
as  a  very  profitable  business. 

I  have  been  engaged  during  the  past  year  in  presenting  this 
situation  to  our  Northern  farmers,  in  order  that  they  might  be 
fully  aAvare  of  the  fact  that  today  sheep  husbandry  affords  a 
wonderful  opportunity  for  them  to  add  to  the  profits  of  farm 
production.  I  have  come  here  to  present  to  you  this  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  sheep  industry,  that  you  might  seriously 
consider  whether  or  not  the  great  areas  of  land  which  you  con- 
trol, and  which  I  understand  are  largely  unproductive  today, 
may  not  be  utilized  and  made  profitable  by  engaging  in  the  main- 
tenance of  sheep  on  these  lajids.  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  an  ex- 
pert, with  sufficient  knowledge  to  inform  you  adequately  as  to 
how  suitable  the  lands  you  control  are  for  this  industry.  To  ob- 
tain that  information,  you  have  at  your  command  the  services  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  State  Depart- 
ments of  Agriculture,  and  your  Agricultural  Colleges.  It  will  be 
advisable  that  you  should  solicit  from  them  a  proper  survey, 
which  would  establish  to  what  extent  your  lands  are  adapted  for 
keeping  sheep.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  however,  that  practically 
the  same  parallels  of  latitude  north  of  the  equator  run  through 
this  section — that  is  to  say — 30  degrees  North  Latitude — as  run 
through  the  great  wool-producing  sections  of  Australia,  Cape 
Colony  and  the  Argentine  Republic.  Another  point  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  fact  that  experience  shows  that  the  sheep  readily 
adapts  itself  to  greatly  varied  conditions  of  soil  and  climate.  In 
England,  where  sheep  have  been  bred  for  a  long  period  of  time, 
different  breeds  have  been  evolved  exactly  suited  to  local  condi- 
tions, and  in  the  little  territory  of  England  there  is  a  great  variety 
of  sheep,  which  have  been  developed  to  suit  the  exact  conditions 
of  each  locality ;  from  the  Moorelands,  with  their  Romney  type, 
to  the  Cheviots  in  the  Scotch  Highlands,  and  the  Kerry  sheep 
for  the  rough  mountain  sections  of  Ireland.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
here  to  state  that  the  British  Isles  esteem  sheep  husbandry  as  a 
most  important  part  of  agriculture,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  maintenance  of  soil  fertility  on  high-priced  lands.  And  it 
is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  British  Isles,  with  an  area  less 


Soil  Survey 
Should  be 
Made  of  Cut- 
Over  Lands 


216  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Different 
Types  of 
Sheep  for 
Different 
Localities 


Sheep  as  a 
Fertilizing 
Agent 


than  the  state  of  Texas,  produces  practically  the  same  amount 
of  wool,  on  a  scoured  basis,  as  we  produce  here  in  the  immense 
territory  covered  by  the  United  States.  The  Spanish  merino 
has  thriven  on  the  green  hills  of  Vermont ;  on  the  mountain 
ranges  of  Wyoming ;  on  the  pampas  of  the  Argentine ;  on  the 
veldts  of  Africa,  and  on  the  great  plains  of  Australia.  And  the 
English  type  of  sheep  have  thriven  equally  as  well  in  the  same 
regions.  Given  the  land  areas,  therefore,  which  you  have,  and 
establishing  their  adaptability  for  the  maintenance  of  sheep,  it 
would  seem  quite  reasonable  that  all  that  is  necessary  is  an  in- 
telligent and  scientific  attention  to  establish  in  this  Southern 
territory  a  vast  industry,  which  will  lay  the  foundation  for  a  bet- 
ter agriculture  and  a  diversification  of  agricultural  production, 
which  would  be  of  such  great  advantage  to  the  Southland. 

I  have  touched  upon  sheep  husbandry  mainly  in  connection 
with  its  meat  and  wool  product,  but  there  is  another  considera- 
tion, which  I  wish  to  emphasize,  and  that  is,  that  the  sheep  is 
known  to  be  one  of  the  best  fertilizing  agents  of  any  kind  of 
live  stock.  This  has  long  been  generall}^  recognized  by  shep- 
herds, and  their  appreciation  of  this  fact  has  been  shown  b}^  their 
use  of  the  term  "The  Golden  Hoof,"  as  applying  to  this  feature 
of  sheep  husbandry  in  its  relation  to  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

I  have  presented  to  you  this  matter  of  the  sheep  industry  en- 
tirely from  the  commercial  standpoint.  I  am  going  to  take  the 
liberty  to  suggest  to  you  that  under  the  circumstances  this  mat- 
ter is  worthy  of  your  consideration  from  another  point  of  view 
than  pure  commercialism. 

No  one  is  justified  in  allowing  that  which  may  be  made  pro- 
ductive to  stand  idle.  It  seems  to  me  there  is  a  moral  obligation 
that  rests  upon  people  like  yourselves,  who  control  great  quan- 
tities of  lands,  to  make  those  lands  productive  for  the  national 
needs.  Your  opportunities  in  all  things  are  created  for  you  by 
the  activities  of  the  millions  of  people  in  these  United  States. 
There  is  a  mutual  interdependence,  at  times  intangible  but  always 
real,  between  each  individual  and  each  community  in  the  nation. 
Today  and  in  the  future  the  cry  of  these  other  millions  comes  to 
vou,   to   use   your  land   to   supply   their  needs. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  217 

Forestry  and  Cattle  Raising 

on  the  Cut-Over  Pine  Lands 

of  the  Southern  States 

By  Major  J.  G.  Lee 

Department  of  Forestry  and  Horticulture, 
Louisiana  State  University 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Conference: 
I  want  to  preface  what  I  shall  have  to  say  by  stating  at  the 
outset  that  my  remarks  will  apply  only  to  the  long  leaf  pine 
flats  and  hills  of  the  cut-over  pine  region  and  not  to  the  short 
leaf  pine  and  mixed  hardwoods  appearing  just  north  of  the  long 
leaf  pine  growth.  These  latter  soils,  having  a  good  red  clay 
subsoil,  are  better  grade  of  the  sandy  loam  type,  and  are  better 
suited  to  agriculture.  And  in  the  short  time  allotted  me  to  dis- 
cuss so  big  a  subject  as  forestry  and  cattle  raising  on  the  cut- 
over  pine  lands  of  the  South.  I  can  speak  only  in  general  terms, 
and  discuss  general  princij)les,  the  fundamentals,  if  you  will, 
which  ought  to  govern  policy  and  procedure  in  any  plan  which 
might  be  devised  for  their  economic  development. 

First  of  all,    I   want   to   make   a   plea   for  forestry   and   re- 
forestation   upon    much   of   this   cut-over   land.      The    forest   re-    rp,     xj^cessity 
sources  of  the  South  and  the  industries  dependent  upon  forests,   Qf  Reforesta- 
the  continuity  of  growth  and  use,  are  too  important,  they  are  too   Hon 
big  an  asset  to  state  and  nation,  now  and  always,  not  to  be  given 
serious  consideration  and  provision  made  for  their  perpetuation 
and  preservation. 

According  to  Chief  Forester  Graves,  more  than  one-fifth  of 
the  nation's  total  timber  wealth  is  found  in  the  South.  About 
one-sixth  of  all  the  soft  woods  of  the  entire  country  and  over 
one-half  of  the  hardwoods  are  in  the  South.  Our  great  naval 
stores  supplies,  upon  which  many  of  our  important  industries 
depend,  are  in  Southern  pineries.  With  the  exhaustion  of  these 
and  of  our  hardwood  supplies  comes  also  the  exhaustion  of 
these  and  other  industries,  which  will  materially  and  vitallv 
affect  the  whole  country. 


218 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Southern 
Forests  as  a 
Wealth 
Producer 


France's  Arti- 
ficially- 
Developed 
Turpentine 
Industry 


And  yet  we  are  told  that  nowhere  in  the  United  States  can 
the  naval  stores  industry  or  the  production  of  hardwood  timber 
be  carried  on  with  the  same  natural  and  economic  advantages 
as  in  the  South.  Mr.  Graves  says  further  that  Southern  pine  is 
the  principal  softwood  used  in  fully  two-thirds  of  the  country 
east  of  the  100th  meridian,  or  that  portion  comprising  70  per 
cent  of  the  country's  population.  Backed  by  a  supply  of  some 
325  billion  feet  of  yellow  pine  and  about  20,000  sawmills,  the 
pine  industry  holds  today  a  commanding  place  in  th§  nation's 
lumber  market. 

The  existence  of  this  vast  storehouse  of  lumber  has  played 
a  great  part  in  the  development  of  the  South  and  has  been  the 
source  of  a  great  deal  of  wealth.  Today  the  forest  industry 
stands  first  in  no  less  than  six  Southern  states,  second  in  an- 
other four,  and  third  in  another  three.  A  half  billion  dollars  is 
invested  in  this  great  industry ;  more  than  400,000  people  are 
employed  in  it ;  20,000  sawmills  and  other  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments are  supported  by  this  great  industry.  The  forest  in- 
dustry draws  upon  a  resource  occupying  now  more  than  half 
the  total  land  area  of  the  South.  By  their  very  magnitude  the 
forest  problems  of  the  South  command  attention.  Their  local 
importance,  looking  to  the  future,  is  so  great  that  no  considera- 
tion of  the  welfare  of  the  South  can  afford  to  omit  them. 

With  this  authoritative  view  of  the  situation,  so  well  and  so 
forcefully  stated,  may  we  not  pause  in  our  deliberations  and  con- 
sider further  these  forests  and  their  place  in  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  this  vast  region. 

Up  to  date  the  turpentine  industry,  a  by-product  of  the  for- 
est, has  had  the  advantage  of  a  great  natural  forest,  richly  en- 
dowed with  species  capable  of  yielding  an  abundant  supply  of 
turpentine  and  rosin.  The  diligence  of  man  has  neither  founded 
nor  preserved  the  virgin  supply.  On  the  contrary,  its  destruc- 
tion will  be  brought  about  by  men  unless  steps  are  taken  to 
prevent  it. 

There  are  but  two  great  centers  of  turpentine  supply,  viz. : 
Southern  France  and  the  Southern  United  States.  In  France  it 
is  a  "man-made"  industry.  We  are- told  that  "out  of  shifting, 
barren  sand  dunes  and  a  malarial,  poverty-stricken  region"  the 
French  government,  through  reclamation  and  the  planting  of 
maritime  pines,  has  made  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  salu- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  219 

brious  sections  of  France.  A  century  ago  these  lands  had  no 
value.  It  is  said  that  "$1.00  would  buy  land,  in  extent,  as  far  as 
the  voice  would  carry."  Yet  today  this  reclaimed  land  is  worth 
from  $2.50  to  $25.00  per  acre.  The  forest  pine  land  stocked  with 
2-year-old  pine  seedlings  is  worth  $9.00  per  acre ;  stocked  with 
10-year-old  pine  it  is  worth  $30.00;  stocked  with  30-year-old  pine 
it  is  worth  $80.00,  and  with  50-year-old  pine  it  is  worth  $160.00 
per  acre. 

Is  this  sort  of  development  not  worth  while  and  may  we  not 
heed  the  lesson  and  plan  for  its  application  in  much  of  the  region 
we  are  now  considering,  as  part  of  a  forest  policy  yet  to  be 
adopted  ? 

Again,  a  hitherto  unutilized  resource  of  waste  material  in 
manufacture,  another  by-product,  has  come  to  Southern  pine 
and  it  has  come  to  stay,  if  provision  be  now  made  for  future 
supplies.  I  refer  to  the  paper  pulp  industry,  now  so  acute  in 
this  country.  The  Great  Southern  Lumber  Company  at  Boga- 
lusa  has  already  learned  this  wonderful  economic  lesson  of  closer 
utilization  of  waste  material  for  paper  pulp,  and  it  is  demon- 
strating it  to  the  world.  The  ultimate  exhaustion  of  virgin  sup- 
ply and  the  problem  of  future  supply  is  even  now  receiving  the 
attention  of  Mr.  Sullivan,  the  manager,  and  experiments  in  grow- 
ing native  pines  to  meet  the  situation  are  under  way ;  and  it 
would  appear  that  our  native  loblolly  or  old  field  pine,  less 
resinous,  hardy,  quick  growing  and  persistent,  might  prove  it- 
self adequate,  and  it  is  indigenous  to  all  the  region  under  con- 
sideration. 

However,  our  forest  problem  here  is  not  one  merely  of  lum- 
ber, trees,  turpentine,  and  paper  pulp.  "There  is  involved  the 
principle  of  the  productive  use  and  occupancy  of  the  land, 
whether  it  be  in  agricultural  home  building  or  the  growing  of 
trees."  And  in  its  further  consideration  I  want  to  lay  down  as 
a  fundamental  proposition  that  forestry,  like  agriculture,  is  a  land 
problem,  an  economic  problem,  an  educational  problem. 

Foresters  everywhere  recognize  and  practice  these  prin- 
ciples, viz.:     First,  that  all  land  should  be  utilized;  second,  that 

land  should  be  put  to  its  best  and  most  economic   use ;  third,      ^^f*  ^^  ^^ 

1  ,1   ,       ,   /-     r  -1  1     11  1        1  1  ,    an  Asset  to 

that  all  land  fit  for  agriculture  shall  be  devoted  to,  or  reserved   Aqriciilture 

for,  agriculture ;  and  fourth,  that  all  land  not  fit  for  agriculture 

shall  be  devoted  to  some  kind  of  forest  growth,  for  let  it  be  re- 


220 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


membered  that  there  are  no  soil  conditions,  rich  or  poor,  high 
or  low,  wet  or  dry,  but  they  will  grow  some  sort  of  trees  useful 
to  mankind.  Agriculture  is  our  great  basic  industry,  but  next 
to  it  is  the  great  business  of  forestry  and  its  dependent  indus- 
tries. 

Three  centuries  of  agricultural  history  in  this  country  has 
given  us  a  clear  definition  of  agriculture  and  its  many  phases  of 
stock  raising,  dairying,  marketing,  etc.  Likewise  has  three  cen- 
turies of  forestry  in  Europe  given  equally  as  broad  a  definition 
for  forestry  and  its  dependent  industries.  There  both  forestry 
and  agriculture  are  considered  as  land  problems  and  forestry  is 
co-ordinate  with  agriculture.  Likewise  must  we  also  come  to 
consider  broadly  forestry  with  agriculture  in  the  solution  of  our 
land  problems — hand  in  hand  they  must  go ;  both  are  products 
of  the  soil,  one  an  annual,  the  other  a  periodic  crop. 

In  German  states,  where  conditions  are  not  so  favorable  for 
forest  growth  as  they  are  with  us,  forest  lands  are  made  to  pay 
Where  Forest  from  $2.C0  to  $7.00  per  acre  per  annum,  with  all  the  land  devoted 
Growth  Has  either  to  agriculture  or  to  forests.  Now,  assuming  Louisiana  to 
be  representative  of  the  Southern  cut-over  pine  lands,  and  that 
soil  and  other  conditions  are  not  very  dissimilar,  let  me  con- 
sider more  directly  the  problem  of  their  development  and  the 
principles  of  action  that  should  guide  in  the  solution. 

According  to  the  State  Conservation  Commission,  there  are 
five  and  one-half  million  acres  of  cut-over  pine  lands  in  Louis- 
iana alone,  and  I  understand  some  8,000,000  acres  of  such  land 
is  owned  by  members  of  the  Southern  Pine  Association.  There 
are  other  millions  not  credited,  aggregating  a  total  of  76,000,000 
acres.  These  are  waste  lands,  producing  nothing  other  than 
taxes,  yielding  no  revenue,  paying  no  interest  on  invested  cap- 
ital. They  are  idle  lands  and  should  be  put  to  some  sort  of  use. 
Shall  they  find  their  best  use  in  timber  production  or  in  some 
form  of  agricultural  production? 

Undoubtedly  a  large  percentage,  75  or  80  per  cent,  is  fit  for 
some  sort  of  farming.  The  remaining  20  or  25  per  cent  is  cer- 
tainly fit  only  for  some  kind  of  forest  growth.  Moreover,  with 
the  most  favorable  colonization  schemes  in  operation,  it  will  be 
a  generation  or  more  before  all  the  agricultural  lands  will  be 
occupied,  and  in  the  meantime  why  should  they  not  be  growing 
timber? 


Been  Made 
Profitable 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  221 

Much  of  the  land  of  the  long  leaf  pine  region  now  under 
cultivation  had  best  be  in  forest  growth,  and  likewise  much  in 
forest  might  best  be  in  agriculture. 

Therefore,  might  it  not  be  a  wiser  and  better  plan  to  recog- 
nize and  follow  the  principle  of  practice  laid  down  by  European 
states  and  by  our  National  Forest  Service,  viz. :  by  an  authorita- 
tive soil  survey  and  an  intelligent  land  classification  program, 
whether  they  are  absolute  forest  lands  or  absolute  agricultural  Cut-Over 
lands,  thus  to  determine  these  facts  of  land  use?  By  this  com-  I-^^ds  Should 
petent  means  we  shall  then  have  definite  knowledge  to  guide,  as 
to  lands,  their  best  use,  crops,  kinds,  adaptability,  etc.  Then  and 
not  till  then  shall  we  be  able  to  determine  intelligently  and  def- 
initely the  truth  about  them  and  their  development,  whether  in 
forest  or  in  agriculture. 

Any  other  speculative  scheme  for  colonization  might,  as  it 
has  done  in  the  past,  prove  disappointing  if  not  disastrous,  and 
the  results  return  to  harass  the  inventor  and  injure  the  state 
permanently.  For  in  their  agricultural  exploitation  let  it  not  be 
expected  that  so  utilized  they  will  be  the  "cure-all"  for  present 
agricultural  ills  and  shortages.  It  is  not  true,  and  though  the 
heavens  fall,  let  the  truth  about  them  be  known  and  told. 

Primarily  the  long  leaf  pine  grows  on  poor  soils.    These  cut- 
over  pine  lands  generally  are  poor  lands  and  we  must  recognize 
that  fact.    Unaided,  we  must  not  expect  profitable  production  of 
staple  crops.     However,  they  are  of  varying  character,  and,  by 
selection,  many  acres  may  be  found  that  are  susceptible  of  im-   Crops  Best 
provement   and    responsive   to    intelligent    fertilization.      With    the   y,  '^^      ^^ 
proper  rotation  of  crops,  using  co\v  peas  and  other  legumes  in   j^^^^^ig 
the  rotation,  supplementing  with  liberal  applications  of  commer- 
cial, home-made,  green  and  other  manures,  and  with  a  good  sys- 
tem-of  drainage,  particularly  on  the  pine  flats,  they  can  be  made 
profitable. 

This  is  abundantly  attested  by  the  $3,000,000  annual  straw- 
berry and  vegetable  crops  produced  on  cut-over  lands  along  the 
Illinois  Central  railroad  in  Tahgipahoa  Parish,  and  in  the  de- 
veloping pecan  and  citrus  fruit  industries  in  the  coast  region  of 
the  Gulf  states. 

Again,  on  most  of  these  soils,  due  to  their  sandy  character, 
peanuts,  sweet  potatoes,  cow  peas,  velvet  and  soja  beans  produce 
well,  and   their  extensive   growth   and   use   on    such   lands   will 


222 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Public  on 
Reforestation 


form  the  bases  for  their  improvement,  and  for  an  ultimate  prof- 
itable hog  and  cattle  raising  industry,  for  these  crops,  in  these 
soils,  have  the  advantage  over  the  heavier  and  more  fertile  soils. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  true  that  the  remaining  20 
or  25  per  cent  of  these  cut-over  lands  is  fit  only  for  forest  growth 
of  some  kind.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  dry  sand  ridges 
and  hills  found  north  of  the  pine  flats  of  the  coast  region.  Pov- 
erty, leaching  and  erosion  of  all  such  lands  would  be  the  prob- 
lem and  the  remedy  would  be  a  forest  growth  of  proper  species. 

Reforestation  here  should  be  our  slogan ;  and  yet  before  re- 
forestation work  shall  appeal  to  the  average  owner  the  educa- 
tional side  of  our  problem  must  be  emphasized.  We  shall  not 
Educating  tfte  progress  in  reforestation  until  the  state  and  the  public  are  be- 
hind the  work ;  and  this  will  hardly  come  about  until,  through  a 
slow  process  of  education,  we  are  brought  to  appreciate  more 
fully  its  economic  need  and  importance,  and  that  it  is  essential 
to  our  industrial  development  and  to  the  solutioti  oi  this  great 
idle  land  problem. 

If  forestry  means  anything  it  means  reproduction,  a  con- 
tinuity of  forest  growth  and  a  continuity  of  forest  use — a  maxi- 
mum of  growth  in  a  minimum  of  time,  at  a  minimum  of  cost, 
secured  through  the  best  possible  silvicultural  system  of  man- 
agement, the  forest  cut  on  a  rotation  basis,  and  cutting  no  more 
per  annum  than  the  annual  growth. 

Forest  fires,  after  man,  are  the  worst  enemies  of  the  forest. 
They  prevent  and  destroy  reproduction  and  otherwise  injure  and 
destroy  standing  timber.  The  practice  of  burning  off  the  woods 
to  improve  grazing,  so  frequently  done  throughout  the  pine 
region,  must  be  corrected,  and  the  fact  of  injury  done  by  fire  to 
both  soil  and  forest  must  be  taught. 

And,  again,  let  it  be  taught  that  grazing  by  cattle,  goats, 
sheep  and  hogs  is  permissible  only  in  mature  forests ;  that  they 
have  no  place  in  a  seedling  forest.  Within  the  past  few  years, 
in  his  reforestation  work  at  Urania,  Mr.  Hardtner  has  found  and 
proven  that  the  "razorback"  hog  is  even  a  worse  enemy  than 
fire  to  long  leaf  pine  reproduction.  And  who  will  say  that  the 
razorback  hog  should  have  place  in  any  modern  agricultural 
community  development ! 

This  development  problem  is  complex  and  in  its  solution 
thoughtful  men  and  women  evervwhere  must  give  it  their  svm- 


Three  Ene- 
mies to  Forest 
Growth 


The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era 


223 


pathetic  interest  and  co-operative  effort  and  support.    "In  a  mul- 
titude of  counselors  there  is  safety." 

Much  that  I  have  said  concerning'  agriculture  in  the  cut- 
over  lands  is  applicable  to  the  cattle  raising  part  of  my  subject. 
But  concerning  cattle  raising  specifically,  it  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  with  the  cattle  tick  eliminated,  as  it  will  be,  a  profitable 
cattle  industry  may  be  developed  on  much  of  our  cut-over  lands, 
particularly  on  the  pine  fiat  lands,  though  not. with  the  scrub 
type  of  cattle. 

In  determining  the  adaptability  of  a  region  for  a  profitable 
cattle  industry,  several  conditions  must  be  considered  and  pro- 
vided for.     An  abundant  supply  of  good  water,  ample  pasturage   Essentials  to 
for  grazing,  meadows  for  hay,  good  soil  for  the  economic  pro-  Successful 
duction  of  forage  and  ensilage  crops,  transportation,  and  a  con-    '       ^     '^'^^ 
A^enient  cheap    source   of   supply   for   concentrated   foods — these 
are  essential. 


Raising 


Within  the  region  most  of  these  conditions  are  met  or  may 
be  met.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  natural 
grazing  is  not  first  class.  The  native  grasses  growing  in  the 
pine  woods  do  not  have  a  high  nutritive  value.  By  the  intro- 
duction of  cultivated  grasses,  however,  particularly  lespedeza, 
carpet  and  Bermuda  grasses,  this  difficulty  may  be  overcome. 
Indeed,  these  grasses  are  already  finding  themselves  distributed 
and  thriving  on  many  of  the  better  types  of  pine  flat  soils.  By 
soils  preparation  and  selection,  meadows  of  these  same  grasses 
may  be  developed  and  supplemented  with  peanut,  cow  pea, 
velvet  and  soja  bean  hay.  According  to  Dr.  Nesom  of  the  Fed- 
eral and  State  Live  Stock  Extension  service  it  will  require  five 
to  six  acres  of  cut-over  pine  land  summer  grazing  for  the  support 
of  one  cow.  He  also  tells  us  that  one  acre  of  good  Bermuda 
grass  on  our  heavier,  more  fertile  soils  will  support  two  head  of 
cattle  through  the  growing  period. 

The  problem  of  cultivated  forage  and  ensilage  crops  for 
winter  feeding  on  cut-over  lands  is  more  difficult  of  solution- 
it   involves   the    agricultural    difficulties   previously    referred    to. 

First  of  all,  there  is  the  problem  and  cost  of  stump  removal  to      ,  ,,,.   . 
,  .,        J         ,  f>f  Winter 

be  considered  and  agam   the  problem   of  drainage   of  the   pme    feeding 

flats,  embracing  varying  soil  types  of  sand,  silt,  sand  and  clay 

loams,  underlaid  for  the  most  part  with  a  stiff  impervious  clay — 

I  repeat  that  here  drainage  is  of  the  first  importance. 


224  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

This  condition  met  and  the  system  of  rotation  and  fertiliza- 
tion practiced  as  already  mentioned,  then  the  problem  of  forage 
and  ensilage  crops  becomes  easy. 

According-  to  Mr.  Perkins  of  the  Federal  Live  Stock  Exten- 
sion, soja  beans  and  corn  and  sorghum  are  the  ideal  and  eco- 
nomic ensilage  crops  for  Louisiana.  The  cut-over  lands  unaided 
would  hardly  produce  a  profitable  tonnage  in  corn,  sorghum,  or 
soja  beans,  say  five  to  seven  tons  per  acre,  compared  to  ten  to 
fourteen  tons  on  the  better  lands  of  the  state.  This  will  about 
hold  true  with  sorghum,  cane  and  other  forage  and  ensilage 
crops  of  the  state.  However,  these  yields  with  soil  improve- 
ment may  be  approached  if  not  equaled  on  much  of  the  cut-over 
regions. 

The  conditions  of  climate,  mild  winters,  ample  rainfall,  long 

growing  seasons,  etc.,  are  splendidly  met  in  all  the  cut-over  pine 

regions  of  the  South,  and  with  these  natural  advantages  in  our 

,     favor,  why  may  we  not  remove  the  minor  difficulties  and  build 
Climatic  and  /    ,  ,  ,  ,  ,         •    ,  i  ,  i 

Other  Natural  '^P  ^  profitable  cattle  and  hog  mdustry  throughout  the  cut-over 

Advantages  pi^^  regions  of  the  South?  The  Morris  packing  plant  to  be 
built  in  this  city  even  now  calls  for  such  an  industry.  And  his- 
tory teaches  that  without  a  live  stock  industry  no  system  of 
agriculture  can  become  permanently  profitable,  for  "live  stock  is 
the  strong  right  arm  of  agriculture." 

Briefly  and  in  conclusion,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  ideal  of  eco- 
nomic development,  which  I  would  love  to  see  come  to  these 
76,000,000  acres  of  idle  cut-over  lands,  if  practicable,  is  some- 
thing like  this: 

First — Survey  and  classify  as  indicated,  ascertaining  by  ex- 
perimentation their  best  economic  use,  forest  or  agriculture,  and 
so  locate  and  designate  them  as  definite  information.  This 
would  separate  all  lands  into  two  general  classes,  viz. :  absolute 
forest  lands  and  absolute  agricultural  lands.  The  agricultural 
land  might  be  further  classified  then  as  to  the  kind  of  crops  it 
were  best  to  grow.  The  absolute  forest  land  then  to  be  refor-' 
ested  with  the  best  suited,  most  needed,  rapid  growing  species, 
and  so  kept  scientifically  and  permanently  in  forest  supply. 

Second — Colonize,  selling  in  small  farms  to  bona  fide,  thrifty 
farmers — home  and  agricultural  community  builders — at  a  price, 
based  upon   productive  value,   with   enough    of   the   forest   land 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  225 

added,  the  "farm  wood  lot,"  to  amply  supply  domestic  needs  and 
local  demands  for  cord  wood,  posts,  poles,  cross-ties,  and  some 
dimension  stuff,  and  so  managed  as  to  satisfy  the  principle  of 
continuity  of  growth  and  continuity  of  use.  In  such  a  coloniza- 
tion plan,  selfish  speculative  schemes  should  have  no  part,  and 
if  faithfully  carried  out  would  ultimately  occupy  and  utilize  all 
the  land  economically.  It  would  settle  the  region  with  com- 
munities of  small  white  farmers,  owning  and  operating  intelli- 
gently, scientifically  and  intensively  their  own  farms,  building 
good  roads,  schools  and  churches ;  producing  wealth  for  home 
and  state,  through  a  sane  and  profitable  system  of  diversified 
agriculture,  of  crops  and  animals — making  "two  blades  of  grass 
to  grow  where  none  grew  before." 


226 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


The  Nation's 
Trend  Awaij 
from  the 
Farm 


The  Necessity  for  Organized 

Effort 

By  General  L.  C.  Boyle 

of  Kansas  City 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen :  I  want  to  tell  you  of  a 
thought  that  has  occurred  to  me  while  I  sat  here  today  listen- 
ing to  this  discussion.  You  talked  about  sheep,  important  as  it 
is ;  cattle  and  hogs  and  grain ;  but  there  is  something  at  the  base 
of  all  that  which  is  more  important  than  anything  else,  and  that 
is  that  this  Conference  is  giving  evidence  of  the  right  spirit,  the 
unselfish  spirit;  that  is  an  evidence  of  devotion  at  a  very  logical 
and  critical  time  in  our*  nation's  history. 


Rural  Depop- 
ulation a 
Menace  to  the 
Nation 


What  is  this  movement  we  are  discussing  here? 


It 


IS   a 

movement  that,  at  its  base,  means,  Back  to  the  land.  My 
friends,  we  are  140-odd  years  old,  this  nation.  Jefferson  said  we 
should  have  a  government  here  devoted  to  agriculture.  He 
discouraged  industry,  in  our  modern  sense  of  great  industrial 
centers ;  discouraged  the  commerce  of  the  seas,  and  said  that  we 
should  have  a  great  nation  of  agriculturists,  with  small  com- 
munities. That  was  the  ideal  social  body,  according  to  the 
vision  of  that  great  far-seeing  man.  For  a  little  while,  however, 
and  for  years,  we  were  an  agricultural  body ;  but  in  the  last 
thirty-six  years  the  trend  of  oscillation  has  been  from  the  farm 
to  the  great  cities  of  the  land.  Thirty-odd  years  ago  70  per  cent 
of  our  people  lived  on  the  land  or  in  rural  communities.  Today 
over  50  per  cent  of  our  people  live  within  city  walls.  From  a 
producing,  we  are  becoming  a  consuming  nation.  From  a  rural 
we  become  an  urban  social  order. 

The  history  of  the  peoples  of  the  past,  as  written,  teaches 
their  love  of  the  land  and  their  loyalty  to  the  land ;  and  just  in 
proportion  as  they  left  the  land  for  the  cities,  in  that  proportion 
can  you  read  the  downfalls  of  the  nations  of  the  past.  The  ob- 
servers and  thinkers  of  modern  life  here  in  America  recognize 
a  menace  to  the  national  life  in  the  growth  of  our  great  cities 
and  the  depopulation  of  our  rural  communities.     Do  you  know 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  227 

that  Iowa,  that  Missouri,  that  Illinois,  that  the  great  central 
agricultural  part  of  this  great  nation  has  lost  population  in  its 
rural  life  in  the  last  ten  years?  The  cities  have  grown  apace, 
but  the  farms  are  gradually  being  deserted.  We  are  becoming 
a  purchasing  nation,  teaching  food  values  in  the  raw  material. 
This  is  not  as  it  should  be ;  and  the  deep  significance  to  me  of 
this  movement  here — the  broad  basis  that  is  at  the  base  of  it — 
is  that  you  are  teaching  the  youth  of  the  land  here  in  the  South 
that  the  prime  necessity  of  the  hour  is.  Back  to  the  soil. 

My  friends,  we  are  living  in  the  most  classic  period  in  the 
world's  history.  We  read  the  history  of  Rome  and  the  peoples 
of  the  past,  and  our  own  early  strife  and  struggles ;  but  at  no 
period  of  the  world's  history  were  there  such  great  things  at  stake 
as  right  now ;  and  this  great  nation  is  to  be  a  pathfinder  in  this 
new  order  of  things.  (Applause.)  She  was  the  harbinger,  and 
we  led  the  battle,  for  freedom  originally.  Her  example  has  in- 
spired the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Europe.  Today  we  see  China  America  as 
and  Russia  and  movements  in  other  countries  evidencing  the  the  Path- 
desire  for  freedom.     We  have  gone  into  this  great  conflict,  not  finder  of  the 

with  the  desire   of  coneiuest,  but   that   democracy   may  be   the       ^^     * 

,.  .      .   ,       ^    ,  ,  1       ,  »       ,  N      T^  ,        .     Democracy 

rulmg  prmciple  of  the  world.     (Applause.)     Democracy — that  is 

the  spirit  abroad  in  the  world  today.     It  is  the  great  contest  that 
is  being  fought  on  the  bloody  fields  of  Europe;  and  here  in  the 
South,  in  the  presence  of  you  fine  men  and  women,  I  want  to 
say  that  you  are  doing  a  great  patriotic  duty  and  helping  this 
cause  of  freedom  by  urging  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  that  our 
people  may  be  fed,  and  that  we  may  feed  the  soldiers  who  are 
fighting  your  battles,  and  your  children's  battles.     That  is  the 
significance  of  this  great  meeting  here.     It  is  the  spiritual  thing 
involved  here.     Why,  sir,  to  me  it  is  an  exalting  thought  that 
you  haven't  heard  a  man  today  talk   about  profit ;  not  a  man 
today  has  been  talking  about  how  much  money  he  could  make ; 
everything  has  been  in  the  spirit  of  helping  the  little  fellow — of   i^nselfish 
doing  something  for  the  state  and  the  nation.     And,  my  friends.   Co-operation 
is  it  not  something  to  be  proud   of  that  we  have  that   spirit?   Spirit  of  the 
Why,  it  is  the  spirit  that  was  in  us  when  we  defeated  Spain  and   ^-^^^ference 
took  the  Philippines  from  her,  and  then  paid  her  for  them.     It 
is  the  spirit  that  animated  us  when  we  went  to  Porto  Rico  and 
built  roads  and  gave  her  schools  and  an  efficient  government ; 
when  we  went  to  Hawaii  and  gave  her  order  and  industrial  pros- 
perity.    It  is  the  spirit  that  makes  us  want  to  help  construct  and 


228 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Cut-Over 
Land  Owners 
Must  Get 
Together 


aid,  and  not  tear  down,  and  that  is  the  spirit  here.  The  thing 
we  are  in  this  war  for  is  to  aid  and  construct,  and  that  is  the 
spirit  here ;  to  aid  the  little  man  to  come  and  get  this  good  land 
of  yours  in  the  South  that  has  been  lying  here.  It  is  a  fine 
thing  to  see  men  like  Mr.  Bigelow  come  from  Philadelphia ;  like 
this  other  man  from  Michigan,  and  others  from  a  distance,  to 
come  down  and  talk  to  you,  not  for  money,  but  to  help  you  and 
themselves  and  the  nation ;  and  that  is  the  big  thing  of  this 
meeting.  There  is  nothing  selfish  about  it,  nothing  ordinary 
about  it,  nothing  sordid  about  it.  I  also  see  manifested  here 
the  spirit  of  co-operation.  That  is  the  cornerstone  of  social  life. 
The  church  and  school  are  the  great  distributors  of  the  co-oper- 
ative spirit.  Everything  must  be  co-operative.  No  man  is  suf- 
ficient unto  himself  any  more.  The  day  of  individualism  is  past. 
The  day  of  the  man  working  alone  at  his  task  is  past.  The  rail- 
roads and  the  telegraph  have  made  us  co-operate.  We  cannot 
live  within  ourselves ;  we  must  live  for  and  with  each  other ;  and 
it  is  only  through  co-operation  that  this  great  enterprise  can 
truly  be  made  a  success. 

Interesting  as  it  is,  we  may  observe  the  practical  illustration 
of  that,  in  this  question  of  pulling  up  stumps.  The  poor  man 
cannot  buy  the  machinery  sufficient  to  do  this  work  himself; 
but  a  group,  co-operating,  can.  A  man  cannot  by  himself  erad- 
icate the  tick ;  but  groups  of  them  can,  by  co-operating  with  the 
state.  The  subject  of  the  hour  is  co-operation.  Here  we  find 
the  nation  sending  its  skilled  scientists  down  here  to  talk  to  the 
farmer.  Do  you  know  the  new  thought  coming  to  those  people 
and  to  the  nation?  It  is  not  government  ownership — but  gov- 
ernment co-operation  with  the  people ;  that  is  the  order  of  the 
day.  (Applause.)  Why,  it  took  us  105  years  to  realize  the 
necessity  of  a  Department  of  Agriculture  in  this  nation  of  ours. 
Although  an  agricultural  people,  we  lived  as  a  nation  for  over 
a  hundred  years  before  they  gave  you  a  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. One  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  passed  before  they 
saw  the  necessity  of  giving  us  a  Department  of  Commerce ;  and 
but  a  few  years  ago — three,  in  fact — we  developed  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor.  Gentlemen,  this  has  been  a  slow  growth,  but 
the  nation  is  getting  hold  of  itself  and  is  understanding  the 
problem  of  government.  Government  is  nothing  more  than  you 
and  I  and  each  of  us  trying  to  help  each  other;  and  having  men 
up  there  in  Washington  making  studies  and  scientific  research. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  229 

working-  splendidly  there  to  aid  all  of  us.  Here  we  have  the 
banks  getting  together  and  co-operating  through  the  Federal 
Reserve  Bank.  Here  we  have  the  railroads  co-operating'  through 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  or  we  have  the  farmers 
co-operating  through  the  Agricultural  Department.  Everything 
has  the  spirit  of  co-operation,  and  here  you  are  getting  it  down 
here,  teaching  us  about  these  good  lands  that  may  be  made  so 
useful  by  co-operation.  No  lumberman,  no  owner  of  cut-over 
lands,  can  do  anything  by  himself;  but  with  his  neighbor  and 
that  spread  out  through  all  the  state,  much  can  be  done. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  have  been  here.  I  want  to  say  to  you 
that  the  great  vital  thought  I  will  carry  away  is  this :  The  men 
who  had  the  vision,  the  understanding  and  the  spirit  to  conceive 
this  thought,  and  then  work  it  out  in  a  masterful  way,  and  make 
manifest  their  purposes  so  clearly;  who  have  had  a  nation's 
agriculturists  and  scientists,  business  men  and  lawyers,  attracted 
to  the  big  idea  they  evolved — that  is  the  big  thing  here ;  and 
men  that  have  that  conception,  and  that  can  state  it  so  clearly 
as  to  challenge  our  admiration,  are  bound  to  succeed  in  this  great 
enterprise.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  men  are  not  the  kind  of 
patriots  who  just  appear  and  make  a  noise,  but  you  are  the  kind 
of  patriots  who  will  persevere  in  this  great  task  of  making  these 
lands  that  God  gave  the  people  habitable  for  the  poor  and  the 
needy,  and  again  restore  this  nation  to  a  self-sufificient,  self-sup- 
porting, prosperous,  glorious  country  that  will  be  the  leader  of 
your  democracy  for  all  time — if  we  are  but  true  to  our  oppor- 
tunity.    I  thank  you.     (Applause.) 


230 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


Make  Lands 
Attractive  to 
Prospective 
Settlers 


Drainage  and 

Stump 

Removal 


Cut-Over  Lands  and  Their 

Value 

By  C.  C.  Prescott 

Agricultural  Agent,  Southern  Railway  System 
Development  Service 

I  was  raised  on  a  South  Alississippi  farm  on  pine  knots  and 
clabber.  This  was  a  cut-over  land  farm  and  produced  crops 
every  year.  Any  cut-over  farm  land  in  the  pine  belt  can  be  made 
to  do  the  same  thing. 

There  must  be  certain  essentials  for  the  development  of  this 
land  in  order  that  it  may  yield  the  maximum  crops  for  the  labor 
expended.  Naturally,  of  course,  on  cut-over  lands  the  appear- 
ance has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  newcomers  or  buyers  living 
near  them.  These  lands  after  the  timber  has  been  cut  off  are 
left  in  a  dilapidated  condition. 

In  order  to  facilitate  matters  in  so  far  as  reclaiming  these 
lands  from  an  agricultural  viewpoint,  the  stumps,  tree  tops  and 
gullied  lands  should  receive  attention  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  In  other  words,  cut-over  lands  should  be  made  pro- 
ductive. Thousands  of  acres  of  this  land  should  now  be  in  cul- 
tivation producing  food  and  feed  crops  and  at  the  same  time 
giving  homes  to  thousands  of  people  who  need  these  lands. 

Today  the  large  land  holder  is  detrimental  to  the  agricul- 
tural progress  of  any  territory.  He  should  be  induced  to  cut  this 
land  into  smaller  area,  and  aid  in  building  communities  and 
good  roads  in  order  that  it  will  appeal  to  the  man  who  has 
brains  and  money  and  is  seeking  a  home.  Our  cut-over  lands 
will  remain  idle  for  years  to  come  unless  our  business  enterprises 
and  large  land  holders  put  forth  every  effort  to  make  these  lands 
attractive. 

As  they  are,  thousands  of  acres  look  like  a  gigantic  army 
en  route  for  Germany  on  account  of  the  millions  of  stumps. 
These  stumps  should  be  converted  into  charcoal  and  smoke, 
thereby  eliminating  a  great  drawback  to  our  agricultural  prog- 
ress. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  231 

Thousands  of  acres  of  this  land  should  receive  attention  with 
reference  to  drainage.  This  will  cause  a  greater  production  of 
crops  and  this  matter  can  be  handled  with  the  manufacturers  of 
drain  tile.  Thousands  of  acres  of  this  land  could  be  converted 
into  dairy  farms  and  beef  cattle  ranches  under  competent  man- 
agement. 

I  believe  a  lot  of  people  are  looking  for  such  opportunities 
if  these  lands  can  only  be  shown  in  an  attractive  way.  There- 
fore, my  solution  for  the  situation  is  that  every  large  land  owner, 
especially  the  lumber  interests,  should  put  forth  every  effort  to 
put  all  cut-over  lands  in  attractive  shape,  sell  these  lands  at  a 
reasonable  price  for  cash  or  on  terms  to  suit  a  worthy  prospect. 


232  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 

Resolutions  Adopted  at  the 
Cut-Over  Land  Confer- 
ence of  the  South 

Resolved,  by  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South  repre- 
senting Eastern  Texas,  Arkansas,  Southern  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Western  Georgia  and  Western  Florida,  in 
convention  assembled  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  April  11th,  12th  and 
13th,  1917,  that: 

Whereas,  in  the  present  national  crisis  the  production  of  food, 
especially  of  meat  and  dairy  products,  is  of  equal  importance  to 
the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war;  the  success  of  the  United 
States  and  her  allies  in  the  great  war  will  largely  depend  on  the 
maintenance  and  increase  of  the  supplies  of  food-producing  ani- 
mals in  the  United  States;  the  largest  area  of  undeveloped  but 
potentially  valuable  cattle-producing  territory  in  the  country  is 
situated  in  the  Southern  states  and  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  ex- 
tension of  the  cattle  industry  of  the  South  is  the  Texas  fever  cattle 
tick; 

Therefore,  Be  It  Resolved,  that  the  rapid,  efficient  and  complete 
Eradication  eradication  of  the  Texas  fever  cattle  tick  has  now  become  a  pa- 
of  the  Cattle  triotic  obligation  upon  those  states  comprising  within  their  borders 
^^^^  areas  still  under  quarantine ;  and 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  this  Conference  urge  upon  the 
legislatures  of  those  states  which  have  not  already  done  so,  to  pass 
without  delay  state-wide  tick  eradication  laws,  and  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  if  necessary  as  a  war  measure,  exer- 
cise the  power  vested  in  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United 
States  by  act  of  Congress  to  facilitate  the  complete  eradication  of 
the  Texas  fever  cattle  tick  within  one  year. 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  for- 
warded to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Governors  of  the  states  of  Texas,  Arkansas,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Georgia  and  Florida,  with  the  urgent  request 
that  these  resolutions  be  given  most  serious  consideration. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  233 

Resolved,  by  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South  rep- 
resenting Eastern  Texas,  Arkansas,  Southern  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Western  Georgia  and  Western  Florida,  in  con- 
vention assembled  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  April  11th.  12th  and  13th, 
1917,  that: 

Whereas,   it  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  American  people 
that  they  be  assured  of  an  adequate  supply  of  food  products  and 
of  raw  materials  to  meet  the  growing  population  and  our  expand-  , 
ing  industries ;  and. 

Whereas^  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States  adaptable 
to  present  day  remunerative  economic  use  is  substantially  exhausted 
or  shortly  will  be ;  and. 

Whereas,  the  vast  areas  resulting  from  timber  operations  in 

the  states  above  mentioned  because  of  their  proximity  to  our  great   '  /^v. 

^  .  .  of  Organiza- 

consummg  centers,  and  to  our  export  ports,  are  worthy  of  imme-   /j^^j  Commit- 

diate  serious  attention  with  respect  to  a  present  beneficial  use,  and    tee 

ultimate  settlement  and  development ;  and, 

Whereas,  practically  all  efforts  at  so-called  colonization  have 
in  large  measure  been  more  or  less  unsuccessful  and  not  lasting  and 
permanent,  and  because  of  their  too  intensely  commercial  aspect 
have  largely  resulted  in  a  loss  of  public  confidence,  and  have  often 
brought  the  promoters  into  national  disrepute ;  and. 

Whereas,  the  problem  is  one  of  practically  national  impor- 
tance and  should  command  the  assistance,  support  and  the  best 
thought  of  all  agencies ;  now. 

Therefore,  Be  It  Resolved,  that  the  chair  be  and  is  hereby  in- 
structed to  appoint  a  committee  to  consist  of  ten  members  who  are 
subscribers  to  the  Southern  Pine  Association,  of  which  the  chair- 
man hereof  shall  be  one,  which  committee  may  associate  with  them- 
selves, if  their  judgment  so  warrants,  representatives  of  any  other 
agencies  interested  in  the  development  of  the  South,  and  which 
committee  shall  as  soon  as  practicable  provide  for  an  organization 
and  the  financing  thereof,  together  with  a  concrete  plan  of  operation 
of  such  organization,  the  same  to  be  known  and  designated  as  the 
Southern  Cut-Over  Land  Association. 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  said  committee  be  empowered  to 
either  incorporate  said  association  or  organize  the  same  as  a  volun-   pian  of 
tary  organization,  and  to  provide  for  its  independent  existence,  or   Organization 
to  effect  mergers  with  other  and  similar  movements,  as  their  best  Suggested 
judgment  may  dictate ;  and, 


234 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Eva 


Federal 
Officials 
Thanked  for 
Co-operation 


Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  the  owners  of  the  idle,  unused  and 
unproductive  lands  in  the  states  mentioned  are  urged  to  support  the 
association  hereinbefore  provided  for,  to  the  extent  of  a  levy  not  to 
exceed  one  cent  per  acre  per  year,  for  such  period  of  time  as  it  shall 
be  determined  shall  comprise  a  period  necessary  to  effect  compre- 
hensive development ;  and, 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  such  land  owners  in  the  area  desig- 
nated are  urged  to  immediately  adopt,  wherever  practicable  and  feas- 
ible, some  form  of  live  stock  industry,  not  only  as  a  part  of  the 
general  plan  of  development,  but  also  in  response  to  the  nation's 
need  in  view  of  the  present  national  crisis ;  and. 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  said  committee  in  working  out  a 
concrete  plan  shall  take  into  consideration  cattle  tick  eradication, 
water  control,  standardization  of  land  sales,  legislation  with  respect 
to  land  titles,  land  classification,  and  in  particular  a  campaign  of 
general  publicity,  and  such  other  activities  as  may  be  deemed  proper 
and  conducive  to  the  successful  operation  of  such  association. 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  inasmuch  as  many  acres  of  this 
area  are  better  adapted  for  forest  growth  than  for  agricultural  crops, 
that  the  association  shall  undertake  to  further  and  promote  the  de- 
velopment of  approved  forestry  methods,  looking  toward  reforesta- 
tion of  such  areas,  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations,  and  where 
practicable  to  combine  such  reforestation  methods  with  live  stock 
development. 

Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  be  ten- 
dered all  officials  and  representatives  of  the  Federal  Government 
participating  in  the  program  and  in  the  discussion  at  the  Confer- 
nece ;  also  to  all  representatives  of  state  agricultural  and  other  in- 
stitutions participating  in  the  program  and  the  discussions  at  the 
Conference ;  also  to  the  press  of  the  entire  country  for  its  co-opera- 
tion in  disseminating  news  of  the  Conference ;  also  to  the  railroads 
for  their  co-operation  in  naming  reduced  round  trip  railroad  fares, 
and  to  the  representatives  thereof  present  and  participating  in  the 
discussion ;  and  to  all  others  not  specifically  enumerated  herein  who 
have  lent  their  advice  and  aid  to  the  Conference  in  accomplishing 
the  constructive  work  toward  which  the  Conference  is  aiming. 


Resolved,  by  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South  rep- 
resenting Eastern  Texas,  Arkansas,  Southern  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Western  Georgia  and  Western  Florida,  in  con- 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  235 

vention  assembled  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  April  11th,  12th  and  13th, 
1917,  that: 

Whereas,  ready  markets  for  live  stock  produced  on  cut-over 
pine  lands  of  the  South  are  as  essential  as  the  production  thereof ; 

Now,  Therefore,  Be  It  Resolved,  that  this  convention  welcomes   nj^j-pig  q„w 
the  advent  of  Morris  &  Company  with  their  New  Orleans  packing   Company 
house  as  a  distinct  encouragement  to  a  present  beneficial  use  of  cut-    Welcomed  to 
over  pine  lands  for  the  raising  of  cattle.  ^'^'^  Orleans 


Resolved,  by  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South  rep- 
resenting Eastern  Texas,  Arkansas,  Southern  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Western  Georgia  and  Western  Florida,  in  con- 
vention assembled  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  April  11th,  12th  and  13th, 
1917,  that : 

Whereas,  it  is  necessary  for  the  National  Government  to  raise 
a  very  large  amount  of  revenue  to  meet  the  extraordinary  expense 
of  war;  and, 

Whereas,  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  kept  in  the  United 
States  about  25,000,000  dogs,  which  are  not  only  a  luxury,  and 
therefore  properly  subject  to  taxation,  but  which  are  also  a  cause 
of  much  damage  to  all  kinds  of  live  stock ; 

Therefore  Be  It  Resolved,  That  we  urge  upon  the  Congress  Federal  Dog 
of  the  United  States  to  enact  a  law  placing  a  per  capita  tax  of  $1.00  Tax  Recom- 
on  all  dogs  as  a  wise  financial  and  economic  measure;  and  mended 

Resolved  Further,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  trans- 
mitted to  our  Representatives  and  Senators  in  the  Congress  with 
the  request  that  they  take  prompt  action  to  enact  a  law  levying  a 
Federal  Tax  on  all  dogs. 


As  men,  proud  of  the  fact  that  we  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  realizing  as  we  do  that  our  country  is  about  to  Lumbermen 
be  called  upon  to  meet  heretofore  unheard  of  demands,  fully  imbued  Pledge  Hold- 
with  the  spirit  of  patriotism  and  a  desire  to  co-operate  to  the  fullest  '"^^  f^J"  ^*^ 
extent  with  our  President  in  whom  we  have  devoted  confidence ;  be  ^^  ^^"on 
it  therefore 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  representative  owners  of  the  vast  area 
of  Southern  cut-over  lands,  do  hereby  pledge  to  our  President  these 
holdings,  that  he  in  his  wisdom  may  direct  their  use  for  the  benefit, 
the  betterment  and  the  furtherance  of  humanity  in  accordance  with 
his  plans,  in  all  of  which  we  are  in  hearty  accord. 


236  The  Dawn  of  a  Xew  Constructive  Era 


Senator  Ransdell  Sends  Greet- 
ings  to  Conference 

Washington,  D.  C,  April  11,  1917. 
Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South, 
New  Orleans,  La. 

L  deeply  regret  that  imperative  official  business  prevents  me 
from  attending  the  Cut-Over  Land  Conference  of  the  South  in 
your  city  today.  The  cut-over  pine  lands  of  the  South  consti- 
tute a  vast  domain  susceptible  of  wonderful  potentialities  in  ag- 
riculture and  forestry,  which  should  call  for  our  very  best  efforts 
in  constructive  statesmanship. 

I  hope  the  Conference  will  form  a  permanent  organization 
to  handle  these  lands  in  a  big  way  in  connection  with  our  various 
state  officials  and  commercial  bodies  in  our  principal  Southern 
cities. 

We  must  demonstrate  honestly  and  on  a  large  scale  for  what 
purposes  these  lands  are  best  adapted,  whether  reforestation 
with  quick  growing  trees,  or  agriculture  in  its  many  forms,  es- 
pecially live  stock. 

Then  we  must  invite  immigration  and  settlement  by  honest 
advertising.  We  must  tell  the  whole  truth  about  our  lands,  and 
devise  plans  to  protect  prospective  settlers  from  real  estate 
sharks. 

There  is  so  much  merit  in  these  lands  that  we  are  bound  to 
have  great  success  in  disposing  of  them  if  these  methods  are  fol- 
lowed. 

I  pledge  my  loyal  support  to  the  good  cause  in  every  way 
possible. 

(Signed)     Jos.  E.  Ransdell. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  237 

List  o/Attendance  Cut-Over 

Land  Conference  of 

the  South 

NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

ALEXANDER,  M.  L Chairman,  Louisiana  State  Con- 
servation Commission New  Orleans,  La. 

Allen,  William,  Mgr C.  &  T.  Bureau  N.  O.  Assn.  of 

Commerce New  Orleans,  La. 

Aiken,  Gayle,  Jr Chambers  Agency  Inc New  Orleans,  La. 

Alexander,  J.  W Insurance  &  Farming Alexandria,  La. 

Agassis,  G New  Orleans,  La. 

Ayres,  Walter  S.,  Ind.  Com.  .  .N.  O.  G.  N  Ry Chicago,  111. 

Alberts,  Ernst Washley  Farm  &  Dev.  Co.  .  .  .New  Orleans,  La. 

BEHRMAN,  martin.  Mayor New  Orleans,  La. 

Bruguieres,  Jules  M W.  Palm  Beach,  Fla. 

Beston,  D.  P Atty.  at  Law Mobile,  Ala. 

Bondurant,  J.  R Agriculture  &  Oil El  Paso,  Tex. 

Brumfield,  O.  N.,  Mgr Illinois  Cent.  R.  R.  Co Jackson,  Miss. 

Bigelow,  a.  C,  Pres Phila.  Wool  &  Textile  Assn  . .  .Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Bateman,  J.  B.,  Jr.,  S.  A Great  Southern  Lbr.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Brooks,  L.  H.,  Supervisor Railroad New  Orleans,  La. 

Bollinger,  M.  S.,  Vice-Pres S.  H.  Bolinger  Lbr.  Co Shreveport,  La. 

Bridgewater,  S.,  Gen.  Mgr.  .  .  .Trinity  County  Lbr.  Co Groveton,  Tex. 

Bloomer,  P.  A.,  Gen.  Mgr Louisiana  L.  L.  Lbr.  Co Fisher,  La. 

Bolinger,  S.  H.,  Treas S.  H.  Bolinger  Lbr.  Co Shreveport,  La. 

Bruce,  Geo.  S.,  Im.  Agt International  &  G.  N.  Ry Houston,  Tex. 

Bonner,  J.  S.,  Pres Bonner  Lumber  Co Houston,  Tex. 

Byers,  W.  C,  Agri.  Agt New  York  Central  Lines Chicago,  111. 

Bronson,  J.  W.,  S.  Rep Kalamazoo  Silo  Co Thibodaux,  La. 

Balis,  W.  H Pig  Club  Agent  La Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Beckner,  S.,  Pres Bryceland  Lbr.  Co <  Ft^T  ^'^  '     Okl^" 

Bolton,  H.,  H.,  Im.  Agt Gulf,  Mobile  &  Newton  R.  R.  .Mobile,  Ala. 

Bryant,  E.  S.,  For.  Insp U.  S.  Forest  Service Washington,  D.  C. 

Brown,  M.  H.,  In.  &  Im.  Agt. .  .Southern  Railway New  Orleans,  La. 

Brown,  E.  W.,  Auditor Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Brady,  T.,  Jr.,  Atty Butteriield  Lbr.  Co Brookhaven,  Miss. 

Barthel,  R.,  Exporter Tropical  Trading  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Branar,  Will The  Trade  Index New  Orleans,  La. 

Brenan,  T.  E Insurance  Business New  Orleans,  La. 

Boyle,  C.  B Salesman New  Orleans,  La. 

Brough,  Chas.  H Governor Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Black,  Harry  A Washly  Farm  &  Dev.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

BiLLiNGSBY,  F.  N Civil  Engineer New  Orleans,  La. 


238  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

BiEGEL,  Geo.  H Real  Estate  &  Land  Dealer.  .  .    New  Orleans,  La. 

Bowling,  N.,  Com.  Mer Commission  Merchant New  Orleans,  La. 

BiERY,  Wm.,  Gen.  Mgr Pine  Stump  Product  Co Covington,  La. 

Blakeslee,  H.  E.,  D.  G Mississippi  Cent.  Expo Gulfport,  Miss. 

Boyle,  L.  C Attorney  at  Law Kansas'City,  Mo. 

Bryant,  R.  C,  Prof,  of  L'bring.  .Yale  University New  Haven,  Conn. 

Booker,  Roy,  Staff  Cor Manufacturers'  Record Baltimore,  Md. 

CLAIR,  J.  C,  Gen.  Dev.  Agt.  .  Illinois  Central  R.  R Chicago,  111. 

Chappius,  E.  L "Alluvial"  Lands New  Orleans,  La. 

Cern,  Harry  G.,  Secy Thompson  &  Tucker  Lbr.  Co.  .Houston,  Tex. 

Courtney,  G.  A.,  Vice-Pres Southwest  La.  Farm  &  Mlg.  Co.  Lake  Charles,  La. 

Carpenter,  Robt.,  Mgr Chicago  Belt  Mfg.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Clarkson,  J.  W.,  L.  Agt La.  Central  Lbr.  Co Clarks,  La. 

Clayton,  W.  D La.  State  Museum New  Orleans,  La. 

Chapman,  H.  H.,  Dir American  Forestry  Assn New  Haven,  Conn. 

Clark,  G.  S.,  V.-P.  &  G.  M Tremont  Lbr.  Co Winnfield,  La. 

Camp,  H.  A Lumber  Mfr Hattiesburg,  Miss. 

Chapman,  B.  F.,  Ch.  Clk Texas  State  Dept.  of  Agr Austin,  Tex. 

CoNOVER,  J.  E School  Book  Rep Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Clappins,  E.  L.,  Jr Real  Estate New  Orleans,  La. 

Coles,  R.  N Com.  Nursery  Co Winchester,  Tenn. 

Cook,  Sherman Real  Estate Alexandria,  La. 

Caranch,  John  W New  Orleans,  La. 

Coston,  J.  T.,  Lawyer Osceola,  Ark. 

Cotton,  T.  M.,  Cont New  Orleans,  La. 

Cotton,  J.  E Dept.  of  Agr Covington,  La. 

Cuculler,  Hy.,  Mgr Matthews  Gravity  Carriers.  .  .  .New  Orleans,  La. 

Cullom,  E.  T Lumber  Mfr Springfield,  La. 

Curtis,  D.  R.,  Sou.  Repr Dixie  Portland  Cement  Co Chattanooga,  Tenn  . 

DENECHAUD,  J.  F.,  Secy    . .  .Immigration  Dept.  of  La New  Orleans,  La. 

Dalrymple,  W.  H L.  S.  U Baton  Rouge,  La. 

DeGrange,  Jos.  H.,  Secy Assn.  of  Commerce New  Orleans,  La. 

Downman,  R.  H.,  Pres Southern  Cyp.  Mfrs.  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Doyle,  Sarsfield Fla.  Farms  &  Homes  Inc New  York  City. 

Dunham,  F.  V.,  Mgr Pav.  Dept.  Sou.  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Davis,  T.  B.,  Pres Tallahola  Lbr.  Co Hammond,  La. 

DoDSQN,,  W.  R.,  Dean Agri.  College  of  La Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Derbes,  Edw.  J Stauffer-Eshleman  &  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Dennee,  John  S Field  Statistician  Bureau  of 

Crop  Estimates New  Orleans,  La. 

Dixon,  A.  L.,  Mgr Gulf  Motor  Truck  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Dinkins,  L.  N.,  Pres Interstate  Trust  &  B.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

ENOCHS,  F.  B Farming  Lumberman  &  R.  R.  .Fernwood,  Miss. 

Elfert,  M.  T Timber  &  Lands New  Orleans,  La. 

Eichling,  C.  W Nurseryman New  Orleans,  La. 

Emerson,  F.  V La.  State  University Baton  Rouge,  La. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  239 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

Erichson,  L.  F Lands New  Orleans,  La. 

Ebensberger,  H Dixie  Nursery  Co Dubberly,  La. 

Evans,  J.  A.,  Asst.  Chief Extension  Wn.  Sou.  U.  S.  N-  G.  .Washington,  D.  C. 

EisEMAN,  Mayer Real  Estate New  Orleans,  La. 

Enderle,  Edward Lands  &  Timber New  Orleans,  La. 

FARLEY,  F.  W U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture Jackson,  Miss. 

Fowler,  R.  B.,  Gen.  Mgr Tremont  &  Gulf  Ry Winnfield,  La. 

Ferris,  E.  B Ex.  Stat.  Director McNeill,  Miss. 

Ferry,  W.  J.,  Pres Ferry-Hanly  Adver.  Agcy Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Foster,  D.  M Real  Estate Lake  Charles,  La. 

FuLLERTON,  R.  VV Gulf  Lbr.  Co E.  St.  Louis,  111. 

FoLSE,  L.  J.,  Jr.,  Ex.  Im.  Agt. .    Southern  Pacific  S.  S.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Fyler,  G.  H.,  Com.  Agt Pennsylvania  R.  R New  Orleans,  La. 

FoRCHHEiMER,  H.,  Pres Washley  Farm  &  Dev.  Co Lorraine,  La. 

Foster,  J.  H State  Forester  of  Texas College  Station,  Tex. 

Fay,  Chas.  S.,  T.  M Southern  Pacific  Lines New  Orleans,  La. 

Fox,  John  A Gulf  Coast  Dev.  League Mobile,  Ala. 

Flynn,  J.  W.,  Gen.  Mgr Cotton  State  Lumber  Co Meehan  Jet.,  Miss. 

Ford,  E.,  T.  M G.  L.  &  N.  Ry Groveton,  Tex. 

Fair,  John  R.,  Prof Ga.  State  Col.  of  Agri Athens,  Ga. 

Fried laender,  V.  P Climax  Lbr.  Co St.  Landry,  La. 

GREEN,  CHAS.,  Vice-Pres Eastman-Gardiner  &  Co Laurel,  Miss. 

Gilmore,  G.  E Shreveport  Cham,  of  Com Shreveport,  La. 

Gilbert,  L.  D Southern  Pine  Lbr.  Co Texarkana,  Tex. 

Gerson,  H.  S.,  Pres Home  Builders  Realty  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Glynn,  J.  W.,  Land  Agt Mississippi  Lbr.  Co Quitman,  Miss. 

Green,  A.  E.,  Vice-Pres Columbus  Lbr.  Co Columbus,  Miss. 

Glynn,  H.  C Quitman,  Miss. 

Gray,  Mat.,  Correspondent American  Lumberman New  Orleans,  La. 

Griffing,  W.  D.,  Pres CM.  Griffing  &  Co Macclenny,  Fla. 

Guild,  W.  E.,  Treas.  &  G.  M.  .  .Finkbine  Lbr.  Co Wiggins,  Miss. 

Gilmore,  A.  B.,  Mgr.-Ed Modern  Farming New  Orleans,  La. 

Geagen,  J.  H.,  Treas Tremont  Lbr.  Co Winnfield,  La. 

Gifford,  F.  C,  Secy Natl.  Assn.  of  Box  Mfrs Chicago,  111. 

Gilmer,  Thos.  W.,  Mgr Bay  Minette  Land  Co Bay  Minette,  Ala. 

Garic,  H.  L Assn.  of  Commerce New  Orleans,  La. 

Gilbert,  Harvey  W.,  Mgr Nona  Mills  Co Beaumont,  Tex. 

Gandy,  J.  W New  Orleans,  La. 

GiPSON,  E.  T.,  C.  G.  A Dept.  Louisiana  &  Mississippi.  .New  Orleans,  La. 

Goreau,  W Go  Ro  Mfg.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Gheen,  Russell  T.,  Mgr.  Trade 

Extension  Department Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Gillispi,  J.  O Atty.  at  Law Gulfport,  Miss. 

HULL,  N.  P.,  Pres National  Dairy  Union Lansing,  Mich. 

Howell,  Chas.  F Physician Kinder,  La. 

Henington,  L Atty.  at  Law Hattiesburg,  Miss. 

Haynen,  Wm.  J.,  Gen.  Mgr J.  J.  Newman  Lbr.  Co Hattiesburg,  Miss. 


240  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

HiNTON,  R.  W.,  Pres Hinton  Bros.  Lbr.  Co Lumberton,  Miss. 

Hallowell,  R.  M.,  Pres Industrial  Lbr.  Co Elizabeth,  La. 

Helm,  H.  B.,  Vice-Pres La.  Ry.  &  Nav.  Co Shreveport,  La. 

Hopkins,  S.  G.,  D.  P.  A Kansas  City  So.  Ry.  Co Texarkana,  Tex. 

Hamilton,  Geo.  C Freeman-Smith  Lbr.  Co Millville,  Ark. 

Heflin,  W.  T Sheriff  Winn  Parish Winnfield,  La. 

Harris,  L.  L.,  Reclamation Beaumont,  Tex. 

Harcop.  B.  T.,  Gen.  Supt Tremont  Lbr.  Co Winnfield,  La. 

HoMEYER,  H.  C Land  Dept.,  Hibernia  Bk New  Orleans,  La. 

Henderson,  W.  L., 

In.  &  Im.  Agt Sou.  Ry.  System  Dev.  Ser Mobile,  Ala. 

HuEBER,  P.  A Farmer Mobile,  Ala. 

Heilbron,  Louis,  Rep Texarkana  Chamber  of  Com. .  .Texarkana,  Ark. 

Hamilton,  F.  P Mississippi  Planter New  Orleans,  La. 

Herriott,  J.  W Real  Estate Chicago,  111. 

Hoenan,  a.  S.,  Mgr Pelican  Box  Factory New  Orleans,  La. 

Hero,  Gus  A.,  Pres JeflFerson  Plaquemine  D.  D.  .  .  .New  Orleans,  La. 

HouLTON,  W.  L Houlton  Lbr.  Co Houltonville,  La. 

HouLTON,  C.  H Houlton  Lbr.  Co Houltonville,  La. 

Harper,  G.  B.,  A.  G.  D.  A I.  C.  R.  R Memphis,  Tenn. 

Hewes,  H.  B.,  V.  P.  &  Treas.. .  Jeanerette  Lbr.  &  Shgl.  Co.  .  .    Jeanerette,  La. 

JAHNCKE,  ERNEST  LEE, 

Pres New  Orleans  Assn.  Commerce.  .New  Orleans,  La. 

Jones,  J.  E.,  Chief  Insp. Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Johnson,  J.  J.,  Supt Cut-Over  Land  Dept.,  Great 

Sou.  Lbr.  Co Bogalusa,  La. 

Jansen,  Chas Postmaster  &  Gen.  Ins.  Agt. .  .New  Orleans,  La. 

JuDD,  Edward  S Chicago,  111. 

Jones,  W.  H Dierks  Lbr.  &  Coal  Co Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Johnson,  L.  W Wire  &  Iron  Bureau New  Orleans,  La. 

Jewett,  B.  N.,  Mgr N.  O.  Nelson  &  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Jennings,  T.  A.,  Pres Jennings  Naval  Stores  Co Pensacola,  Fla. 

Jackson,  H.  K Electric  Lights Mobile,  Ala. 

KING,  L.  G.,  Auditor Tremont  Lbr.  Co Winnfield,  La. 

Kelser,  R.  J.,  Bus.  Mgr Trade  Index New  Orleans,  La. 

Klare,  G.  W Salesman,  Reclaimed  Land.  .  .  .New  Orleans,  La. 

Kerngan,  J.  E Hammond,  La. 

LEACH,  N.  M.,  G.  T.  Mgr Texas  &  Pacific  Ry New  Orleans,  La. 

LovEjOY,  W.  C,  Receiver N.  O.  Netherlands  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Lee,  a.  J.,  S.  p.  a Southern  Ry New  Orleans,  La. 

Lanaux,  a.  a Engineer New  Orleans,  La. 

Law,  G.  W.,  Secy.-Mgr Lock-Moore  Co.,  Ltd Westlake,  La. 

LaCour,  O Planter New  Orleans,  La. 

Livingston,  Carl  D University  of  Wisconsin Madison,  Wis. 

Lee,  S.  p.,  Pres Lee  Lbr.  Co Alexandria,  La. 

Leeymard,  E.  p.,  Im.  &  Agr. 

Agt T.  &  P.  R  .  R New  Orleans,  La. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  241 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

Lawler,  Jno.,  a.  M.  M Rapids  Lbr.  Co \\  oodworth.  La. 

Learntt,  R.  a.,  Vice-Pres Southern  Land  iSc  Timber  Co..  .1  idianapolis,  Ind. 

Letts,  Chas.,  Box  Supt Eastman-Gardiner  Lbr.  Co.  .  .    Laurel,  Miss. 

Lloyd,  E.  R Director  Miss.  Expt.  Station. .  ..Agricultural  College, 

"Miss. 

Ledoux,  H.  L,  Secy Acme  Home  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

LiCHTENSTEiN,  L  M.,  Del N.  O.  Assn.  of  Commerce New  Orleans,  La, 

LoRANGER,  H.  R.,  Vice-Pres Genesee  Lbr.  Co Genesee,  La. 

LaGrone,  J.  M.,  Mgr La.  Creosoting  Co Winnfield,  La. 

LiGHTON,  W.  R Fayetteville,  Ark. 

MARSHALL,  F.  R., 

Animal  Husbandry Bureau  Animal  Industry Washington,  D.  C. 

Mayo,  H.  M.,  Mgr.  Ind.  Dept.  .  Southern  Pacific Houston,  Tex. 

Marbut,  C.  F U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture Washington,  D.  C. 

McLauchlan,  Asso.  Editor Lumber  Trade  Journal New  Orleans,  La. 

Martin,  W.  A.,  Gen.  Mgr American  Lbr.  Co Merryville,  La. 

MoRETON,  S.  E Lumber  Mfr Brookhaven,  Miss. 

McKoY,  Edwin  A Lands New  Orleans,  La. 

Miles,  L.  T Salman  Brick  &  L.  Co Slidell,  La. 

MooRE,  A.  G.  T.,  Asst.  Secy.  .  .  .Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Miller,  R.  G.,  Agr.  Editor New  Orleans  Item New  Orleans,  La. 

Marshall,  E.  C.  D.,  G.  F.  A.  .   L.  R.  &  N.  Co Shreveport,  La. 

Mansfield,  C.  J.,  Vice-Pres.  .  .  .Southern  Lbr.  Co Warren,  Ark. 

Morse,  Stanley  F.,  Con.  Agr. 

Ex New  Orleans,  La. 

Morse,  R.  F.,  Gen.  Mgr Ludington  Lbr.  Co Ludington,  La. 

Means,  Guy  R.,  Agr.  Rep Dupont  Powder  Co Jackson,  Miss. 

Morgan,  Edw.,  Com.  Ft.  Agt, ,  .Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R New  Orleans,  La. 

McGehee,  F.  C,  Pres Pine  Bluff  Lbr.  Co Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 

Murphy,  Jas.  R.,  Pres Fla.  Farms  &  Houses,  Inc Palatka,  Fla. 

McDonnell,  L.  T.,  Sou.  &  S. 

Mgr Bi-Lateral  Fire  Hose  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

McMahan,  M.  J.,  T.  M N.  O.  G.  N.  R.  R.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

McCroary,  S.  H.,  Asst.  Chief. .  .U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr Washington,  D.  C. 

Morrison,  W.  W Market  Writer New  Orleans,  La. 

Murray,  Kemball,  Editor Real  Estate  Item New  Orleans,  La. 

McIntyre,  W.  G Forage  Feeding New  Orleans,  La. 

McCreary,  E.  R Mercantile  &  Saw  Milling Bush,  La. 

Miller,  Chas.,  Traf.  Mgr N.  O.  N.  &  N.  Ry Hammond,  La. 

MiNCY,  S.  S.,  Asst.  Mgr Miss.  Farms  Co Wiggins,  Miss. 

NESOM,  G.  E.,  Supt Live  Stock  Ex.  Service Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Nalty,  W.  H.,  V.-P.  &  Mgr Hammond  Lbr.  Co Hammond,  La. 

Nichols,  E.  A Wholesale  Land  Dealer New  Orleans,  La. 

OTIS,  J.  S.,  Secy H.  Weston  Lbr.  Co Logtown,  Miss. 

PIPER,  C.  v.,  Agrostologist. .     U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr Washington,  D.  C. 

Phillips,  Henry Planter  &  Land  Owner Natchez,  Miss.,  and 

Ottumwa,  Iowa. 


242  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

Parker,  Walter Assn.  of  Commerce New  Orleans,  La. 

Perkins,  W.  R Forage  Corp.  Agent Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Palmer,  L.,  Ex.  Editor Lumber  Trade  Journal New  Orleans,  La. 

PuLLEN,  King  H.,  Dir.  of  News 

Service Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Pedeaux,  Ed.  H.,  Mgr.  Agr. 

Dept Stauffer-Eshleman  &  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Pipkin,  L.  B.,  Secy Nona  Mills  Co Beaumont,  Tex. 

Perrin,  L.  E.,  Dist.  Agt U.  S.  Demonstration St.  Landry,  La. 

PuTMAN,  L.  R.,  Adv.  Mgr Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Pullen,  Wm.  H Insurance Jackson,  Miss. 

Pruden,  Hy.  B Pine  Stump  Product  Co Covington,  La. 

Preston,  E.  V.,  Land  Com Fernwood  Lbr.  Co Fernwood,  Miss. 

Power,  C.  W Furniture  Retailer New  Orleans,  La. 

Prescott,  C.  C,  Agri.  Agt Development  Service Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Pettibone,  F.  W Jordan  River  Lbr.  Co Kiln,  Miss. 

QUERBES,  ANDREW Chamber  of  Commerce Shreveport,  La. 

Querens,  F.,  Jr Accountant New  Orleans,  La. 

ROMMEL,  GEO.  M.,  Chief  Ani- 
mal Husbandry  Div U.  S.  Bureau  of  Animal  Ind . .  .Washington,  D.  C. 

Rennyson,  lb Real  Estate New  Orleans,  La. 

Rhodes,  J.  E.,  Secy  .-Mgr Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Rolf,  A.  F Dept.  of  Agriculture Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Reuter,  Chris Vegetables  and  Seeds New  Orleans,  La. 

Riley,  J.  N.,  Sales  Agt Atlas  Powder  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Redhead,  John  A.,  Actg.  State 

Agt U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Richardson,  E.  S La.  State  University Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Rountree,  L.  M Farmer La  Branch,  La. 

Reimers,  F.  W.,  Gen.  Mgr Natalbany  Lbr.  Co Hammond,  La. 

Root,  L.  Carroll N.  O.  Assn.  of  Commerce New  Orleans,  La. 

Radway,  C.  W.,  Dairy  Specialist. Live  Stock  Exten.  Service Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Ray,  J.  B Clerk New  Orleans,  La. 

RiGGs,  Whit Richard  &  Riggs Covington,  La. 

Ross,  W.  I.,  Farm  Supt Industrial  Lbr.  Co Elizabeth,  La. 

Regal,  H.  W.,  S.  A L.  R.  &  N.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

RuNTE,  E.  O D.  P.  A New  Orleans,  La. 

Ranson,  John  L,  Vice-Pres Naval  Stores Abita  Springs,  La. 

SESSOMS,  ALEX.  K.,  Pres Ga.  Land  Owners'  Assn Cogdell,  Ga. 

Stange,  Chas.  F New  Orleans,  La. 

Sheppard,  C.  C,  Gen.  Mgr Forest  Lbr.  Co Oakdale,  La. 

Slagle,  C.  E.,  Gen.  Mgr Central  Lbr.  Co Clarks,  La. 

Saupe,  L.  E.,  Im.  Agt St.  Louis  S.  W.  Ry St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Salmar,  Clarke New  Orleans  Item New  Orleans,  La. 

Serferth,  Herman  J Times  Picayune New  Or'eans,  La. 

Sanford,  F.  L Yellow  Pine  Saw  Mill Zona,  La. 

Speh,  C.  F.,  Secy Turp.  &  Rosin  Prod.  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era  243 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

Simmons,  H.,  Official  Reporter New  Orleans,  La. 

SiMiNS,  Geo.  A.,  Publicity New  Orleans,  La. 

Stonebraker,  F.  E.,  Secy Sou.  Alluvial  Land  Assn Memphis,  Tenn. 

Staples,  C.  H.,  Dairy  Spec La.  State  University Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Sweet,  J.  A Sessoms  Land  &  Sec.  Co Cogdell,  Ga. 

Smith,  G.  K.,  Mgr Simonds  Mfg.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Stevens,  F.  W.,  Mgr Bagdad  Land  &  Lbr.  Co Bagdad,  Fla. 

Stern,  Percival,  Pres Interstate  Electrical  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Smith,  T.  F.,  Land  Mgr Ed.  Hines  Lumber  Co Poplarville,  Miss. 

Shelton,  T.  J.,  Traffic  Mgr A.  &  L.  M.  Ry Monroe,  La. 

Stier,  E.  v.,  Newspaper  Rep.  .    The  Daily  States New  Orleans,  La. 

Schnetzer,  J.,  Photographer New  Orleans,  La. 

Sherman,  C.  W.,  Dist.  Mgr Aetna  Explosives  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

ScHMOBL,  Paul Chemical  Engineer Mobile,  Ala. 

Swift,  G.  R.,  Pres Swift  Lbr.  Co Knoxo,  Miss. 

Sowers,  W.  J.,  Secy  .-Mgr Major-Sowers  Lbr.  Co Epley,  Miss. 

Shilstone,  H.  M.,  Rep N.  O.  Assn.  of  Com New  Orleans,  La. 

Stoddard,  W.  L.,  Priv.  Sec Mr.  Vrooman Washington,  D.  C. 

Scott,  J.  H.,  Gen.  Mgr Southern  Mineral  &  Land  Imp. 

Co Winnfield,  La. 

Smith,  E.  L,  Insp.  in  Charge 

Tick  Erad.  in  La U.  S.  Bureau  An.  Industry.  .  .  .Baton  Rouge,  La. 

See,  J.  G.,  Teacher Agrl.  College  L.  S.  U Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Schneidau,  p.  Sefton Real  Estate New  Orleans,  La. 

Smith,  F.  L.,  Sales  Mgr Natalbany  Lbr.  Co Hammond,  La. 

Staples,  A.  L Banker Mobile,  Ala. 

Stern,  Geo.  M Broker New  Orleans,  La. 

TALLMAN,  clay,  Com Gen.  Land  Office Washington,  D.  C. 

Townsend,  G.  a.,  S.  M Great  Southern  Lbr.  Co Bogalusa,  La. 

Thompson,  J.  Lewis,  Pres Thompson  Bros.  Lbr.  Co Houston,  Tex. 

Tuxworth,  F.  E.,  Supt Pickering  Land  &  Tbr.  Co Cravens,  La. 

Trieschmann,  a Crossett  Lbr.  Co Crossett,  Ark. 

TiEBOUT,  G.  L Hort.  La.  Experiment  Sta Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Tinsley,  J.  D.,  Ag.  Dem Gulf  Colorado  &  St.  Fe  Ry.  .  .    Pineland,  Tex. 

Thames,  T.  R.,  Ld.  Agt Natalbany  Lbr.  Co Hammond,  La. 

Tracy,  S.  M.,  Agron U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Forage  Crop, 

Investigation Biloxi,  Miss. 

Taylor,  H.  W.,  M.  D.,  Secy. .  .  .Alaflamiss Mobile,  Ala. 

ToBiE,  C.  W.,  Mgr Wm.  J.  Burns  Detective  Agcy.  .New  Orleans,  La. 

Tucker,  Wm Farmer Tucker,  La. 

Thomas,  A.  J.,  Capt Supt.  of  Transportation New  Orleans,  La. 

Temerton,  R.  W.,  Asst.  Secy.  .  .Gulf  Lumber  Co E.  St.  Louis,  III. 

TuLL,  J.  H.,  Agri.  Agent K.  C.  S.  Ry Mena,  Ark. 

Thatcher,  N.  E Times-Picayune New  Orleans,  La. 

UCKER,  CLEMENT  S.,  Vice- 

Pres Sou.  Settlement  &  Dev.  Org.  .  .Baltimore,  Md. 

Underwood,  W.  D New  Orleans,  La. 


244  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Constructive  Era 


NAME  REPRESENTING  ADDRESS 

Uber,  J.  E Agricultural  Engr New  Orleans,  La. 

Upton,  E.  C Printer New  Orleans,  La. 

VROOMAN,  CARL Asst.  Secy,  of  Agriculture Washington,  D.  C. 

Van  Pelt,  A.  W.,  Asso.  Editor.  .Gulf  States  Farmer New  Orleans,  La. 

WILSON,  H.  D Com.  of  Agr.  &  Immigration. .  .Baton  Rouge,  La. 

White,  R.  M Contractor New  Orleans,  La. 

Weeks,  G.  C Land  Owner Hammond,  La. 

White,  H.  L.,  Pres. J.  J.  White  Lbr.  Co Columbia,  Miss. 

Watson,  D.  L.,  Phy.  &  Far Cusach  Bldg New  Orleans,  La. 

Woolsey,  Walter  E Farmer  &  Fruit  Raiser Rochester,  N.  Y. 

WoMACK,  Mark,  Agriculturalist  .Teacher Verda,  La. 

Weston,  J.  H H.  Weston  Lbr.  Co Logtown,  Miss. 

WooLMAN,  C.  E.,  Dist.  Agt Farm  Demonstration  Work.  . .  .Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Whittington,  W.  W.,  Jr.,  Secy .  Enterprise  Lbr.  Co Alexandria,  La. 

Weigand,  F.,  a.  M Mercurio  Pub.  Co New  Orleans,  La. 

Wild,  E.  O.,  Editor Gulf  States  Farmer New  Orleans,  La. 

Welty,  D.  C,  Comr.  of  Agr.  . .  .Missouri  Pacific  Ry St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Walden,  C.  E.,  Vice-Pres Sabine  Tram  Co Beaumont,  Tex. 

Williams,  H.  S.,  Dir.  Pub Mississippi  Cent.  Expo Gulfport,  Miss. 

Weaver,  S.  P Weaver  Bros Shreveport,  La. 

WoMACK,  F.  J.,  Mgr Foster  Lbr.  Co Houston,  Tex. 

Wright,  W.  C Lumber  Trade  Journal New  Orleans,  La. 

Watson,  Geo.  E.,  Secy Sou.  Cyp.  Mfrs.  Asso New  Orleans,  La. 

West,  W.  T New  Orleans,  La. 

Wefel,  H.  H.,  Jr Land  Dealer Mobile,  Ala. 

Wright,  Tumer,  Field  Agent.  .  .U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture Baton  Rouge,  La. 

WiLLANGHLY,  Chas.  D.,  Cashier. First  National  Bank Mobile,  Ala. 

Wilkinson,  L.  W.,  D.  Agt Gretna,  La. 

YOUNG,  H.  M.,  Treas Southern  Pine  Assn New  Orleans,  La. 

Young,  Sam'l Civil  Engineer New  Orleans,  La. 


7  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  publication  is  due  on  the  LAST  DA'lii 
stamped  below. 

Ag.R.S. 

Q^r-'e-TSrBQ 

APR  0  5  1998 

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